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An ambulance leaves the Tam Luang site, evacuating one of the first children to leave of the cave by divers, July 8, 2018. / AFP
The difficult evacuation of the twelve children and their football coach stuck in a cave in Thailand for 15 days began Sunday and six of them have been successfully evacuated, the others to be on Monday after a strenuous expectation for families.
According to the report sent to AFP by the rescuers, a first group of six boys, each guided by cave flooded by two professional divers, have already managed to get out.
They were evacuated aboard ambulances and then helicopters to Chiang Rai Hospital. AFP journalists on the scene have seen the ambulances leave the site in the direction of a heliport.
"The next operation should begin in ten hours minimum," said at a press conference Sunday evening Narongsak Osottanakorn , the head of the Crisis Staff.
In the morning, he announced that the "big day" of the evacuation had finally come.
A helicopter lands at the Chiang Rai military airport, carrying young evacuees from the cave, July 8, 2018. / THAI NEWS PIX / AFP
The rescue had warned that the children would come out "one by one", assisted each by two professional divers, and that it would take in total "two to three days". They finally opted for an exit of the children in two groups, of six then of seven.
The first evacuation turned out to be faster than envisaged, in advance of more than two hours on the schedule indicated at the origin . And the second group could come out on Monday morning in the most optimistic scenario.
– Five hours per child –
No image of the operation has emerged for the time being, as the Thai authorities have created a wide security perimeter around the area.
Thailand: relief operations / AFP
The "wild boar" football team set off to explore the cave on June 23, after training, for a reason still unknown. They found themselves trapped by the rising waters in this cave deep in northern Thailand, on the border with Burma and Laos.
Until now, it took eleven hours for a seasoned diver to return to the children: six hours to go, five hours back thanks to the current. Several kilometers in rough casings, the route out of the cave includes difficult passages under water.
Sign of the danger of the company, a former diver of the Thai navy died Friday during a
However, a good number of children, aged 11 to 16, can not swim and none have dive.
A police officer in front of the entrance to Tham Luang Cave, July 8, 2018 in Mae Sai, where 12 children and their football coach have been stuck for several days / AFP
"I send them my strength, I hope they will get there", reacted Nopparat Khanthavong, the main football coach of the team, interviewed by AFP, before the release of the e hildren. Families were not answering the phone on Sunday.
The conditions for an evacuation are considered "perfect" these days by the Crisis Cell, especially with regard to the level of water in the cave.
– Return of Rain –
Rescue had been wondering for days about whether to trigger a perilous evacuation, monsoon rains expected soon could ruin the ongoing efforts to drain water from the cave.
Rescue had managed to insert a hose several kilometers to carry oxygen in the pocket where the group has taken refuge and the oxygen level stabilized in the cave.
But Saturday night and Sunday, showers fell, recalling the urgency to get the children out.
The rescuers evacuated Sunday morning the journalists around the cave.
"All those who are not involved in the operation must leave the area immediately, "police announced loudspeaker on the site, where were hundreds of journalists following this" saga "having taken an international scale.
The announcement of the police was followed by a flurry of fighting in the camp mounted by reporters, with cameras everywhere and camp beds to be at the best places to film the evacuation of children.
The head of the Crisis Staff, had warned to sell By the end of the day, the influx of media in this mountainous tropical forest area was problematic. "We have more and more media coming and going everywhere," he said. "The medical teams complained to me that this is becoming a problem," he said.
Faced with the influx of journalists, wading through the mud for days, the authorities had laid down metal barriers for keep away and allow rescuers to work without cameras around.
On Sunday, many media rushed to Chaing Rai Hospital, an hour away from the site, where the victims must be evacuated. But here too, the authorities have banned the immediate arrival of the hospital.
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