Rescue of the Thai football team: why the 12 boys are still trapped

Twelve Thai boys and their soccer coach, missing for nine days, were found trapped in a cave half a mile under the ocean by a team of British divers Monday night. The world rejoices.

But as of Thursday, the boys were still stuck in the flooded system of Tham Luang Nang No Cave in northern Thailand. And their status remains perilous. There are about 2.5 miles of cave flooded between them and the entrance. While they are currently on safe ground above the floodwater, more monsoon rains are expected this weekend, and the cave system could be flooded for four months.

The mission to save them is an extraordinary international operation with hundreds of cave and rescue experts and military personnel from several countries including the United States. They help bring food and medical badistance to boys and children. coach, and advise the Royal Thai Navy on the best way to get them out.

According to several media outlets, four rescue options are being considered: leaving them in the cave until the water recedes, pumping water for them to come out as they came, teach the boys to dive. can make the painful five hours underwater trip out of the cave, or drill in the cave to shoot them out.

On Tuesday, the Navy SEALs reported that the boys are relatively healthy and excited to see their families. But their fate is still very uncertain and rescuers will soon have to make huge, difficult decisions about how best to protect them.

How did the Thai boys enter the cave?

It was Saturday, June 23. The team of 12 boys – all aged 11 to 16 and nicknamed the Wild boars – had just finished a weekly football practice and went to explore the cave with their coach. According to the Wall Street Journal, they had already been in the cave; this time, they wanted to go further to write their names on the wall as part of an initiation.

But after entering the cave, heavy rain began to fall and the rising water trapped them in the cave.

As Richard C. Paddock and Muktita Suhartono of the New York Times reported, at first, the governor of Chiang Rai province, where the cave is located, thought that a rescue would be "impossible".

But the effort quickly become an international collaboration. The United States sent 30 people, including 17 members of the air force. Rescuers have joined Australia, Japan, China, Myanmar and Laos. The British Cave Rescue Council led the exploration of the cave that eventually found them.

According to the Times, the two British civilian divers

finally made a breakthrough, literally, when they chipped the rocks and enlarged a pbadageway

Once they had created a opening large enough, they could advance to where they suspected the group, about three miles from the entrance to the cave. Mr. Volanthen and Rick Stanton, two British civilian divers, were leading on Monday night, placing the ropes that divers can use to cross turbid or turbid water.

When they found the missing boys and the coach, they huddled a rock over the water, smiling but emaciated.

The images of this moment – published on the Facebook page of the Navy SEALs – have 23 million views. On the muffled audio, you can hear one of the rescuers say to the boys, "You have been here for 10 days. 10 days. You are very strong, very strong. "

The story struck a happy agreement around the world. People everywhere tweeted their excitement on hearing about the rescue.

How will rescuers take them out of the cave?

The excitement was short-lived, as the safety of boys remains uncertain and rescuers

The ideal solution – and one to which rescue workers are working – would be to pump the water that floods the cave so that the boys and the coach can simply go out by the way they entered. Over the past four days, the Thai army has used hundreds of industrial pumps to lower the water level by 40 percent, according to the Guardian. Until now this week, the weather has been rather dry. But now it's a race against the elements with more rain expected to fall this weekend.

Linh Pham / Getty Images [19659024] A second option would be to drill in the cave and pull the boys up. But this method would require new roads to accommodate the drilling equipment, as well as better maps and time to understand where exactly the boys are and how to reach them. According to the BBC, this approach does not seem very realistic

If water levels increase, boys and the coach may have to swim and dive the 2.5 miles up to Mouth of the cave, with the help of divers. who would guide them. The New York Times spoke to an experienced caving diver who thinks that even though none of the boys currently know how to swim, this method could work: "It's only the logistical question of how to get them out, because" they never plunged before, "he said. "They will have to learn very quickly."

The Guardian reports that they have started learning to dive, but that they are still too weak to make 2.5 miles. Experienced divers are currently required five hours to complete this trip due to high currents, poor visibility, and narrow, muddy roads.

The fourth option? To simply wait for the flood until they can get out of the cave. Since the end of the monsoon season in October, this could mean up to four months of waiting. Captain Anand Surawan of the Thai Navy said that they had already sent four months of food and that they were prioritizing the health and safety of the boys before taking them out.

This rescue is difficult because the monsoon rains flooded the entrance to the cave. Linh Pham / Getty Images

What Happens Until They Are Saved?

The rescue effort is led by the Royal Thai Navy.

The Navy, along with a special intervention team from Australia, brought food, water, medicine and diving equipment to the cave. They are also trying to hook up a fiber optic cable so that the boys can talk to their families, whose excitement has now become anxiety-provoking.

Football stars also provide moral support: Cristiano Ronaldo and Christian Fuchs sent messages to the team

The Navy updated the world with videos posted on its Facebook page. On Tuesday, a video showed the boys smiling and telling everyone that they were healthy.

หลัง ได้ ทาน หน่วย ดำ ดำ และ และ และ และ ที่ ที่ ที่ ที่ ที่ ผ่าน ผ่าน ผ่าน ผ่าน ทำลาย ทำลาย นัก นัก นัก นัก [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ รอ รอ คอย ถ้ำ ฝาก ฝาก มา มา ครับ
(บันทึก ภาพ 03/07/18)

# ทีม หมูป่า ทีม SEAL
#ThainavySEAL

Posted by Thai NavySEAL on Tuesday, July 3, 2018

They also showed videos of health professionals at work, dealing with minor cuts and scrapes.

Adha Apokorn Yukongkaew SEAL chief of the Thai Navy told reporters at a press conference Tuesday: "Now we have given food to boys, starting with a food easy to digest and to High energy … We took care of these boys according to the doctor's recommendation.So do not worry, we will take care of them as best we can.We will all bring them safely.We are planning now how to do it. "