Rescue of Thai cave: fifth boy rescued as mission resumes – report

Witnesses saw a person being driven on a Thai cave stretcher where the rescue operation to rescue eight boys and a football coach is underway, says a Reuters report.

The rescue operation of the remaining nine people trapped in a flooded Thai cave system is in full swing as most of the divers who brought the first four boys back safely return.

Thai authorities confirmed that the second phase of the rescue operation of a youth football team trapped in a flooded cave was underway.

Narangsak Osatanakorn, acting governor of Chiang Rai, said the second phase started at 11am. to hear good news in the next few hours. "

Nine people remain trapped in the cave.

Authorities rushed to retrieve boys, aged 11-16, and their trainer from the cave while the monsoon rains in the far north mountainous region Province of Chiang Rai Authorities have stated that heavy night showers have not increased water levels in the cave, where firefighters continue to pump water.

"Factors are as good as yesterday … The rescue team is the same team with some replacements "Narongsak Osatanakorn, the head of the joint command center coordinating the operation, said:

There added: "The water level is not disturbing … The rain yesterday did not affect the water levels inside the Sunday cave in an urgent and dangerous operation that made them dive into narrow and tortuous of the cave was in good health.

They were undergoing medical examinations in a hospital and were not yet allowed to stay in touch with their loved ones. of infections, which were able to see them through a glass partition.

Most of the divers who participated in Sunday's rescue returned to retrieve the others because they knew the conditions of the cave and what to do.

His Excellency Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was to visit the site later on Monday.

A Thai Navy official told CNN: "The operation has begun and is under way at the moment."

Earlier, rescuers woke up with dark skies and thunderstorms potential after a night of heavy monsoon rains that hit the mountainous region. The rain raises concerns that flooding in the cave complex will complicate relief efforts and affect evacuation.

Authorities said the planned storms in Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand had made the decision to go forward. for boys aged 11 to 16 and their coach to dive out of the cave.

The Thai Meteorological Department reported that there was a 60% chance of rain with more thunderstorms throughout the week.

saved yesterday, but nine remain underground including their 25-year-old fooitball coach, Ekkapol Chantawong. The second stage of the operation was put on hold overnight as the oxygen tanks were replenished and the defibrillators set up if the rescue took a wrong turn. According to reports, the divers returned to the cave around 1 pm local time on Monday.

Thai Minister of the Interior, Anupong Paojinda, revealed that the same divers who rescued the four boys will lead the following operation because of their knowledge of the terrain. In a statement released by the government, Paojinda said officials were meeting Monday morning at the local time to learn how to extract the remaining nine people from the cave in the north of the country. Mr. Paojinda said that other air cartridges were placed along the underwater road to where the boys and their trainer were trapped for almost two years. weeks. He said that this process may take several hours

The extraction of those remaining should take another two to four days, depending on the conditions. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said the lessons of the initial effort would be applied when two other groups of four people emerged from the cave

"The fact that it takes so many hours underlines the precariousness of this mission ". I said. It is unlikely that the nine in the cave will know that their teammates have been rescued successfully, due to a lack of communication tools between them and the entrance, according to Daniel Sutton, journalist of Ten News. Experts say it's crucial for their survival that the remaining boys be informed of positive news.

Thai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn described the first rescue as "our job as a mastermind" and claimed the four rescued boys reports that one of them was being watched from close. Contrary to initial reports, it is now believed that the weakest boys were chosen to go out first, after being evaluated by Dr. Richard Harris, Adelaide's cave diver and anesthetist

. province, where they stay.

According to CNN, boys will spend a day or two in solitary confinement, inside a sterilized isolation unit, as a precaution

The Guardian reported that the four boys who were rescued last night According to an official representative of public health, they should be able to see their families later today

"Visitors will have the right to meet and talk to patients, "he said. "Do not hug or touch them and they [visitors] have to leave one to two meters of patients until the results of their blood tests come back."

Thongchai said doctors checked that children were free from infections such as leptospirosis and melodosis.

The authorities have so far refused to disclose the identities or conditions of the four people who escaped

"Do not ask such questions, no wise questions to ask", the Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O -Cha told reporters in Bangkok Monday morning when he was asked about the conditions of the four.