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THAM LUANG CAVE, Thailand – Even at 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a cave in northern Thailand, a six-hour underground journey is difficult and perilous, even for the most experienced divers. vicious currents, sneaking through two-foot passes and climbing several-storey rocks.
A veteran diver, a former member of the Thai Navy, lost consciousness and died early Friday after placing reserve tanks along the road. Meanwhile, oxygen begins to run out in the remote cave where the children have taken refuge.
Three of the people in the cavern are reported by the authorities as being weakening, and despite a 24-hour pumping operation, the threat remains that monsoon rains could drive up even more water levels in their precarious refuge.
The initial euphoria in Thailand and around the world, according to which 13 people were found alive, gave way four days later. outside. The possibility of waiting months before seasonal floods disappear seems unlikely, but the practical problems of transporting 12 children and one adult safely through a three-kilometer maze of danger remain daunting, all the more so. more than some children can not swim. "When we found the boys, we thought that the boys would be able to survive long there," said Arpakorn Yookongkaew, commander of the Thai Navy SEAL, to reporters. Friday. "But now things have changed.We have a limited time.We have to work hard."
The oxygen level in the boys cave is about 15 percent and decreases, he says. , which is worrying: less than 16 percent can cause hypoxia, which in extreme cases can be fatal. 19659007] Thus, the rescue effort has become more desperate. Thursday night, rescuers began using a watering hose to the cave in the hope of adding air, in addition to carrying air tanks for a later use, as had the diver Saman Gunan, 38 years old
We are also working to route a line of communication to the cave so that the authorities can better coordinate the rescue attempt and allow the boys to make contact with their families. At the present time, messages must be sent and shipped with divers who risk a difficult round-trip journey of 12 hours from the entrance of the cavern to the cave and back.
Interviews with the more experienced of some 140 divers Thailand and the rest of the world, who are here to help, focused on one striking fact: it was already one of the most difficult challenges of cave diving in the world, and now they have to keep the weakened boys reasonably healthy in the oxygen-depleted air by trying to teach them to attempt an underwater leak. A cave diver called it the underground equivalent of climbing Mount Everest – but without a guide to make things easier.
[ Get the latest updates on the rescue in the Times briefing. ] [19659002] Ben Reymenants, a Belgian cave diver who operates a dive shop in Thailand, was part of the group that found boys for the first time Monday, after more than a week of research. He said that the muddy current that pushed him during his initial dive was as powerful as that of the Colorado River.
"You literally pull yourself, hand in hand, in zero visibility," said Mr. Reymenants, 45 years. interview. "You can not read your depth gauge, you can not read the time, so you basically fly blind in a direction you do not know."
Reymenants said that he and other experienced divers initially thought that finding the group would be impossible under such terrible conditions.
But after it was clear that the Thai Navy commanders would continue to send their SEAL members, Mr. Reymenants said he volunteered to dive. A second time
"These children were at the age that they could have been my son," he said. "A Navy SEAL can not stay there while these children are dying in the cave, they have to show an activity – and if you are a Navy SEAL, yes, you will sacrifice yourself."
More than 110 divers are members from Thai SEAL, and they set up a command center in a dry place. Cavern area known as Room Three, where the crews are based around the clock. It is about a mile away for boys, but it's the hardest mile. Most of it is under water with few pockets of air.
"Everything is water and darkness," said Admiral Arpakorn. "There are a lot of alleys, from top to bottom.We can say that this mission is very brutal."
An American diver, an Air Force relief specialist who is a part from a team sent from Okinawa to Japan, said that getting the boys out now would require them to guide them under the water.
The cave complex, which has never been completely mapped, has many different formations, said the American, who could not be identified by his name for reasons of security. [19659007Cen'estpasuneseulerivièrequitraverselagrotteadoesilditettouteslesvoiesnavigablesnesemblentpasêtredirectementreliéesLepompagedel'eauàproximitédel'entréedelagrotteneréduitpasnécessairementleniveaudanslespartiespluséloignéesduréseaucommedanslecasdesgarçonsetdeleurentraîneur
Under & # 39; water, everything is 10 times harder than "
The terrain varies from & # 39; region to region & Other – from the sandy bottom to the deep mud passing through the rocks the size of a house. In one place, the waters converge to create occasional geysers.
Currents can flow quickly, especially when it is raining outside and the level of water in the cave is rising
. on the walls of the cave – much higher than today's levels – showing how much water has risen in the past.
Some passages are atrociously narrow – as small as 2 feet by 2 feet and a half, said Mr. Reymenants. But circumstances forced him to explore the cave in a risky way, even for a professional who has plunged into dangerous places around the world, he said. "Normally, I would turn around" but normally I do not have 12 boys, and their whole lives as end point. "
Even as divers and rescuers navigate the challenges of this environment, worry about depleting oxygen in the boys' cave became the commander of the search and rescue operation. Rescue, Narongsak Osottanakorn, said Thursday night that three people in the cave were weakening, although they remained in reasonable condition.
Ekkapol Chantawong, allegedly giving her share of the meager food supply to boys during their 10-day trial before their discovery, is suspected of having three.
Oxygen reduction can also cause serious problems.Dinko Novosel, the president of the European Cave Rescue Association, said in a phone interview that with an oxygen concentration of 15% or less in a cave – pretty much where it is – "You can survive, but you can not nothing make. . It's like being in high mountains. "
Admiral Arpakorn said that the divers would continue the work that Mr. Saman was doing, by bringing in air tanks and placing them at designated points along the road to the cave. Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, who closely monitored the rescue operation, ordered that Mr. Saman receive a King-sponsored funeral and that his family be taken care of.
A video clip widely circulated on Twitter showed Mr. Saman wearing sunglasses, "We will take the children home," he says,
Richard C. Paddock and Muktita Suhartono reported on the Tham Luang Cave and Mike Ives's cave. Hong Kong
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