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CHIANG RAI, Thailand (Reuters) – Rescuers in Thailand scrabbled to clear a constricted pbadageway for various deep inside a flooded cellar complex on Monday as the search for 12 boys and their soccer coach entered a ninth day.
The various from a Thai navy SEAL unit were within 500 meters of a chamber containing an elevated rock mound, nicknamed "Pattaya Beach" by cavers, which could have provided boys with a refuge when rains flooded the cave, blocking the way out.
Progress has been slowed down by a wide range of people in the marketplace.
"This is today's widening this hole," Chiang Rai Narongsak governor Osatanakorn told reporters on Monday.
"As of now we have not yet reached Pattaya Beach," he said.
The boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach disappeared on June 23 during an outing to the Tham Luang cave, which runs for 10 kilometers (6 miles) beneath the mountains in northern Chiang Rai province.
Aside from belongings at the mouth of the cellar and handprints on the walls, no trace of them.
National news bulletins have been dominated by the mammoth search involving more than 1,000 personnel, including rescue teams from the United States, Britain, Japan and elsewhere.
Doctors say the boys could survive for days without food, but much would depend on whether they found water clean enough to drink.
The heavy seasonal rains hampered the search operation, with various grows along the cave walls, barely able to see in the muddy water.
Narongsak said 1.7 kilometers (a mile) from the entrance to the cave.
"Yesterday we carried 200 air cylinders. Today we like to have 600 air cylinders in the cellar, so the team can operate and stay in the cellar without coming out, "he said.
Once more are in place, a search will also be made of the right turn at the T-junction, he added.
As part of the rescue effort, it was unclear what progress they had made, or exactly where they were in relation to the "Pattaya Beach" chamber.
At Mae Sai Prasitsart school, where six of the missing boys were studied, special prayers were held for the junior soccer team during the morning badembly on Monday.
"I hope all the spirits," teacher Takkapong Thammarangsi said as he led the prayers.
Pansa Namyi, 15, said he shared a love of sports with his friend who was among the missing.
"I want to tell him that I am waiting," Pansa said.
Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng in BANGKOK; Editing by Simon Cameron Moore and Darren Schuettler
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