Rescue of the cave in Thailand: the football coach apologize to the parents of the boys, the boys write "do not worry" in the letters

MAE SAI, Thailand – The football coach trapped in a cave with 12 Thai boys apologized to their parents in the first letter that he and l & # 39; Team sent by the intermediary of divers. The boys wrote letters to their parents saying "do not worry … we are strong," reports BBC News.

The 25-year-old coach says: "For the parents of all the children, the children are doing very well, the team members are taking care of it, I promise to take care of the children as well as I can I want to say thank you for all the support and I want to apologize to the parents. "

Rescuers say that they will not immediately attempt an underwater evacuation because the boys do not go to sea. have not yet learned to dive well. But if heavy rains begin again, divers will try to remove the boys right away.

The boys also wrote that they are well and that they have lost their family. The group's handwritten notes include requests for different types of food.

"Master, do not give us a lot of homework!" read one.

Narongsak Osotthanakorn, Governor of Chiang Rai Region, said Friday that most boys' health has "improved to normal," according to BBC News.

Narongsak, who is immediately in charge of the operation, however said at a press conference that if heavy rains begin to cause a rise in flooded areas in the cave, divers would attempt to take out the boys right. a way.

Thai officials had suggested in public statements that a quick underwater evacuation of boys and their football coach was necessary because access to the cave might soon be closing due to rains seasonal monsoon expected this weekend.

Cave rescue experts warned against this approach, except as a last resort, because of the dangers posed by inexperienced people using diving equipment. The path of access is considered particularly complicated because of twists in some narrow pbadages flooded.

Earlier Friday, Thai commander SEAL Arpakorn Yookongkaew said that there was a "limited time" to rescue the boys and the coach.

"We can not wait any more conditions (be ready) because circumstances are putting pressure," said Arpakorn Yookongkaew, commander of Thai SEAL, at a press conference. "Initially, we thought that boys could stay safe in the cave for a while, but the circumstances have changed. "

A suggestion that the trapped team might have to wait months in the interior until what a sure way of availability – as was the case in 2010 with Chilean miners trapped underground – met with little enthusiasm.The authorities continue to follow a third option, to know how to find a well or drill in the mountain in which the cave is located to find a kind of rear door entrance.

The boys from 11 to 16 years and their coach of 25 years went to explore the cave after a football match on June 23. L The monsoon floods interrupted their escape and prevented rescuers from finding them for nearly 10 days. The only way to reach them was to navigate through dark, narrow pbadages filled with muddy water and strong currents.

When asked at his midnight press conference about the boys' underwater exit, the governor replied, "Not today because they can not dive right now" .

Narongsak stated that the boys were still in good health and that they had practiced wearing diving masks and were breathing in anticipation of the possibility of diving. According to BBC News, teams of Thai and international divers provided the boys and the coach with food, oxygen and medical care. But there are more and more concerns about the level of oxygen in the room, which, according to officials, has fallen to 15% of the usual level of 21%.

With oxygen levels in the interior becoming lower as more workers come in, Friday authorities were trying to install an oxygen tube 3 miles long to pump into. the air, reported Ben Tracy, CBS News correspondent.

The rescue operation suffered a discouraging setback on Friday with the death of an old Thai navy vessel plunking into the flooded corridors to deliver supplies, as authorities struggled against the deterioration of time and the reduction of oxygen.