The hour of news from Ecuador, its provinces and the world

Mae Sai (Thailand), EFE

At least four people were saved during the day of the cave in northern Thailand where they had been for more than two weeks and where there are still five trapped, report

New released children add to the four children admitted to the Chiang Rai Provincial Hospital for a checkup after leaving the cave on Sunday.

Like yesterday, the children left in an offbeat way: The first left the cave around 16:45 local time and the last left around 19:00 local time, according to KhaoSod.

The authorities have not yet offered official confirmation of these four rescues. According to Efe, several helicopters apparently on an emergency transfer mission flew over the press camp located two kilometers from the cave

. Thai Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-ocha, oversaw the evacuation operation this afternoon. It is not expected to speak publicly. The international contingent of rescue divers arrived in the cave at 11:00 am local time (04:00 GMT) in order to return with one of the nine people remained cloistered this morning, said Narongsak Ossottanakorn, spokesman for the 39; operation.

This second attempt could be faster than the one we had the day before thanks to the good conditions found yesterday by the rescue teams inside the underground tunnels, Narongsak said. Rescue members, along with the children, have to overcome to reach the outer mouth of the cavern a complex road with partially labyrinthine flooded galleries and with inequality and zero visibility.

Between the first operation, Sunday, and this second, the authorities interrupted the rescue for about 14 hours to proceed with the replacement of the compressed air cylinders used during the evacuation work and to evaluate the parts flooded with the cave. The arrival last Saturday of a rainy season in the region and that will remain for much of the week marked the beginning of the rescue operation. Rain is one of the major concerns of the authorities, because the water filtered by the mountain can re-flood the galleries and cancel the drainage performed since they were found alive 12 schoolchildren, between 11 and 16 years old, and his guardian, 26.

Narongsak insisted on the warning of the rain problem, but said that a team of soldiers is in the bush with the task of blocking the & [39393939393939entryofwaterintoundergroundtunnelsThethirteentrappedenteredgalleriesonSaturdayJune23afterafootballtrainingwhenasuddenstormbegantofloodthecavityandcutofftheexitTheywerefoundafterninedaysofintensiveresearchinvolvingmorethan1300people