[ad_1]
BANGKOK (AP) – Thai search and rescue teams were looking Monday for 13 members of a football team under 16 trapped in a flooded cave complex in the heart of a mountain.
Bicycles and boys' football boots were found at the mouth of the Tham Luang Caves in Chiang Rai Province, in the north of the country, after they disappeared on Saturday night.
It was believed that they had been trapped by the rising waters inside the network of caves when a heavy rain hit.
Members of a "seal" unit of the Navy, including a team of divers, search the cave system.
"The team went down to a depth of 5 meters (16 feet) and found a large room … but we found no trace of the children," said the unit's marine on his Facebook page.
A navy commander supervising the search said that he hoped that the 12 boys and their 20-year-old coach would be saved.
"I believe that they are all still alive but they could be exhausted … we should have good news today," said Rear Admiral Arparkorn Yookongkaew.
People who want to explore the cave are supposed to get permission. Thailand is in the middle of its rainy season where caves can be flooded.
(Reportage by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Additional Report by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Juarwee Kittisilpa, Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Editing by Robert Birsel)
[ad_2]
Source link
