Relief as the first four Thai boys rescued from the flooded cave :: Kenya

Four of the twelve schoolchildren were rescued so far from a flooded Thai cave after divers launched a bold and dangerous mission to free the children and their football coach, who were trapped for more than two weeks.

"Today, we have successfully rescued and sent four children to the Chiang Rai Prachanukrua hospital safely," said the chief of the rescue operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn , at a press conference.
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A helicopter took some of the boys to the nearby town of Chiang Rai, where they were taken by ambulance to the hospital.

"They are currently in the field hospital near the cave," Tossathep Boonthong, head of the health department in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, told Reuters. "We give them a physical exam."

Thirteen foreign divers and five members of the Thai Navy's elite unit try to bring the other boys – some 11-year-olds and low swimmers – into narrow, submerged pbadages that have cost the life of a former Thai Navy diver. Friday. Their ordeal has attracted media attention in Thailand and abroad, and getting boys out safely could be a boost for the ruling junta in Thailand before the general elections in Thailand. next year.

"Today is the day," Narongsak Osottanakorn, chief of the rescue mission, told reporters. Gusts of heavy monsoon rains flooded the area of ​​Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province yesterday and storms were expected in the coming weeks, increasing the risk of "war with water and time" "to save the team

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The boys, aged between 11 and 16, disappeared with their 25-year-old coach after playing football on June 23, going on an adventure to explore the cave complex near the border with Myanmar and celebrate the birthday of the boys.

Saving them all could take three to four days and depends on the weather, said an army commander involved in the mission. The rescue teams had repeated the plan for several days, said Narongsak, and had managed to drain the water level in the cave considerably, but needed to move quickly.

"If we wait and the rain comes in the next few days, we will be tired again by pumping and our availability will decrease, if it is, we have to rebadess the situation," he said. he says.

An Australian doctor who is part of the rescue mission checked the boys' health on Saturday night and gave the go-ahead for the operation to continue.

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The boys were discovered by British divers Richard Stanton and John Volanthen on Monday.

Among the 13 members of the foreign diving team – mainly from Europe – three escorted children, while the others were positioned along the dangerous first kilometer, where the boys had to navigate through the submerged pbadages two feet wide.

Thirteen medical teams were stationed outside the cave – each with its own helicopter and ambulance – one for each of the 12 boys and their trainer.

After an initial badessment on the site, the boys were transported by helicopter on an improvised helisurface near the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital, some 70 km away.

A source at the hospital said five emergency doctors were waiting for the party and another 30 doctors were waiting, adding that everyone was feeling tense.

"The teams here are happy that the boys are saved but also worried about the severity of the boys' conditions, and we are under a lot of pressure," she said, refusing to be named because she was not sure. She was not allowed to speak to the media and the area outside the hospital was cordoned off with police patrolling the area, a Reuters reporter said. At the end of the street, a loudspeaker told the vendors to "stay off the road" and "do not interfere with the transfer mission".

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, head of the military junta that took power in 2014, planned to visit the cave site today, said a government spokesman.

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His visit to relatives and rescuers last week was criticized by some Thais as opportunistic as his government was facing pro-democracy demonstrations in the capital Bangkok in recent months.

A team of a company owned by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, with expertise in drilling and exploration, was to reach the cave site yesterday, announced the Thai Defense Ministry.

Musk said on Twitter that a team from his SpaceX rocket company in Los Angeles was building a "small kid-sized submarine" to help rescue, although he gave a timeline suggesting that he would not arrive in Thailand before today. the earlier.

Authorities have said that it takes about 11 hours to make a round trip between the entrance to the cave and the place where the boys are huddled on a muddy shore.