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Four boys from a group of 12 children trapped in a cave in northern Thailand were released during an eight-hour dramatic operation that was repeated Monday.
The first two boys emerged from the cave. Masks just after 5:30 pm local time (11:30 am BST) on Sunday, and were kissed by the divers who took them outside, said Narongsak Osatanakorn, the head of the Joint Command Center coordinating the operation.
Two hours later, two other boys "
" Today, it was the best situation, in terms of children's health, water and our state of readiness for rescue, "said Osatanakorn. a press briefing Sunday evening in front of a government office a few kilometers from the cave of Mae Sai. "It's our masterpiece."
The first boy came out of the cave at 17:40, followed by another 10 to 12 minutes later, he said: "After that, a third and fourth at 19:40 and 19:50"
The four received preliminary health checkups at the scene and were transported to the Chiang Rai Hospital, the nearest larger city, he said. One was airlifted and three arrived by ambulance
Osatanakorn did not name the boys who were rescued first, nor revealed the reason they were selected. Parents waiting on the cave site did not know which boys had embarked on the dangerous two-mile journey.
Namhom Boonpiam, Mongkhol's mother, 14, said she was following unconfirmed reports on social media that her son was the first boy released. "I just heard her name, Mongkhol, and I was pretty happy," she said.
She sleeps on the cave site with many other relatives waiting for the next stage of the rescue operation scheduled for 7am Monday:
Osatanakorn was applauded during a Sunday press conference after announcing that the four boys had been out, but he said, "Our work is not completely over."
"We will have to do the next successful mission like the one we did today, the rest of the children are in the same place."
He said rescuers needed 10 at 8 pm to rest and prepare their equipment. "Air tanks and systems need to be put back in place," Osatanakorn said.
"I can not tell you the exact timing of the next operation.I must check all the factors are stable.The operation will then be carried out."
An ambulance takes one of the rescued boys from the cave to Mae Sai in a hospital in Chiang Rai. Photography: Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP / Getty Images
Osatanakorn had previously qualified Sunday as "D-day" the 16-day salvage operation. Heavy monsoon rains during the night and the sudden exclusion of cave site journalists in the morning had led to the belief that nearly a week after the divers had found the boys, they were launching the night. operation to recover them.
He had dropped 30 cm on Saturday, allowing the boys to walk about half the jagged, muddy path of the slope where they stayed for 15 nights with their 25-year-old coach
. Osatanakorn said. "The sense of readiness is … the perfect time, the water and the physical and mental preparation of the children."
An elite group of 10 international divers, working with five sailors from the Thai Navy, entered the cave around 10am. heading to the boys' room and other people stationed a few hundred yards in an area called Monk's Junction.
A second group of three foreign divers arrived around 2 pm "to support the diving efforts," according to a statement from the command. center, with additional rescuers in place helping to operate a rope system in a difficult medium stretch of track.
Richard Harris, an Australian doctor with extensive cave diving experience, entered the room on Saturday, examined the boys and approved them for the operation, the authorities said.
The authorities had spent the week in a race against the clock, trying to drain as much water as possible from the cave to give the children the easiest path to the exit before the day. arrival of monsoon rains.
People are waiting for news about the boys who were rescued during the eight o'clock Sunday operation . Photography: Lauren DeCicca / Getty Images
Sunday morning, Osatanakorn said that the one-mile path from the entrance of the cave until the third room that served as the basis for the operation was not completely dry, but above all pbadable. "Yesterday, the water levels were the lowest they had been," he said.
"Although there are some slightly difficult parts [where] we have to bend or crawl, we can say that we can just walk." 19659002] He refused to say whether the boys would need to dive at all in the 1.1 mile trip from where they shelter to the third chamber. "What I can tell you is that they can walk a lot of times," he said.
Divers said the return trip to the boys took about 11 hours during the week – six to reach them and five back.
"It's dangerous for the most experienced divers to get through," Reuters said. "It's pretty scary."
A 25-year-old Thai Navy sailor, who declined to be named, described one of the most difficult parts of the trip. "The hole is really small, I have to remove my air tank to crawl through.As I do, I feel the edges of the hole on my back and my chest." The authorities had predicted that no boy would emerge before 9 pm at the earliest, but about three hours earlier, reporters posted in front of the cave site began reporting the movements of ambulances and planes.
Shortly after, Divers and Thai naval officials on the site began confirming that two boys had been released – and then, potentially, hours later, at 9 pm, Osatanakorn called a second press conference and confirmed that four boys were released.
"The operation was more successful than expected," said Osatanakorn
The former governor of Chiang Rai Province of the rescue operation, which has captivated and unified Tha Landes for more than fifteen days.
Osatanakorn was officially transferred to a governor in the small neighboring Phayao province since the boys were trapped in the cave on June 23
But his engineering background and management skills have earned him an ongoing role. commander of the command center. His leadership earned him a national popularity, including calls on social media that he became prime minister.
Thailand's sailors were also in the spotlight, posting a photo on their official Facebook page after the start of the operation. the wrists of others. "We, the Thai team and the international team, will bring the Wild Boars home," they write, referring to the boys' football team.
The Seals posted another message on their official Facebook page after the operation. : "Have a good dream tonight, night, Hooyah."
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