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Mae Sai (Thailand) (AFP) – Rescuers trying to evacuate nine young footballers still trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand on Monday attacked their second day of "evacuation" mission after the successful extraction of first four boys by elite divers.
The whole of Thailand was hoping for a happy ending for the children and their 25-year-old coach trapped in the Thuam Luang cave in northern Thailand since 23 June , a saga that also fascinates the foreign media, which sent hundreds of journalists on the spot.
The monsoon rain threatening to flood this complex underground network, along about ten kilometers, constitutes the main challenge for the rescuers, who fear new precipitation before the release of the whole group.
The wild boar football team, 12 boys aged 11 to 16 and their young coach, had spent nine days in the depths of the cave before two British divers managed to join them earlier this week. last. Emaciated but still alive, they were perched on a promontory, more than four kilometers from the entrance to the cave.
On Sunday, four boys saw the light of day again, thanks to experienced divers who guided them along a tortuous course, marked by flooded and narrow sections, in particular a passage very difficult to cross, in which one must sneak, which is the nightmare of the crisis cell.
Baptized by the social networks "Sangliers Wild 1, 2, 3 and 4 ", the four boys are" safe, "said chief of Thai rescuers Narongsak Osottanakorn on Sunday night, unspecified as to their state of health or identity.
– No information –
Extraction operations are likely to resume on Monday, said Narongsak Osottanakorn, also governor of Chiang Rai Province.
"We have been working all night," AFP told AFP. responsible for the administration of this province, confirming that there was only a pause in the extraction operation itself.
This lack of detail adds to the anxiety of parents who are waiting to the entrance to the cave to be reunited with their child
"I'm still waiting here at the cave, I cross my fingers to see if my son will be among those coming out today," says to the AFP Supaluk Sompiengjai, Pheerapat's mother, commonly known by her nickname, "Night."
"We heard about four boys but we do not know who it is. Many parents are still waiting. None of us have been informed of anything, "she added, though she said she was" happy "at the prospect of seeing her son again.
In addition to the pitfalls along the dive route The situation is complicated by the fact that a large part of the children can not swim and none of them have ever done a dive, a former Thai Navy diver has died there, testifying to the great difficulty of the company, even for professionals.
– Threat of rain –
The lack of space also adds to the complexity of the operations while the rescuers must place enough oxygen bottles on the exit route
Ambulances arrived Monday morning near the entrance to the cave.
Hordes of journalists from all over Thailand and the world are kept away from the cave, as well as from Chiang Rai Hospital where the four survivors were placed in observation.
The family of "Night" thinks that the group decided to explore the cave after their football training to celebrate its 16th birthday. They found themselves trapped by the rising water in this network located on the border with Burma and Laos.
After their discovery by British divers, rescuers desperately reviewed all possible solutions, break through tunnels in the mountains or waiting underground for weeks the end of the monsoon.
But faced with the threat of new rains and lower oxygen levels in the room where the group took refuge, the authorities have decided Sunday to try everything for the whole, judging the ideal conditions.
The head of the junta in power in Thailand since a coup in 2014, General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, is expected on the spot in the afternoon.
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