Thai navy various widening passage on ninth day of search for boys in cave

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (Reuters) – Rescuers in Thailand scrabbled to clear a constricted passageway for various deep inside a flooded cellar complex on Monday as the search for 12 boys and their soccer coach entered a ninth day.

The various from a Thai navy SEAL unit were within 500 meters of a chamber containing an elevated rock mound, nicknamed "Pattaya Beach" by cavers, which could have provided boys with a refuge when heavy rains flooded the cave, blocking the way out.

Progress has been slowed down to various parts of a narrow 100 meter stretch that they were unable to pass through.

"This is today's widening this hole," Chiang Rai Narongsak governor Osatanakorn told reporters on Monday.

"As of now we have not yet reached Pattaya Beach," he said.

The boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach disappeared on June 23 during an outing to the Tham Luang cave, which runs for 10 kilometers (6 miles) beneath the mountains in northern Chiang Rai province .

Aside from belongings at the mouth of the cellar and handprints on the walls, no trace of them.

National news bulletins have been dominated by the mammoth search involving more than 1,000 personnel, including rescue teams from the United States, Britain, Japan and elsewhere.

Doctors say the boys could survive for days without food, but much would depend on whether they found water clean enough to drink.

The heavy seasonal rains hampered the search operation, with various groping their way along the cave walls, barely able to see in the muddy water, but the pumps had helped to bring down water levels in recent days.

Narongsak said 1.7 kilometers (a mile) from the entrance to the cave.

"Yesterday we carried 200 air cylinders. Today we like to have 600 air cylinders in the cellar, so the team can operate and stay in the cellar without coming out, "he said.

Once more are in place, a search will also be made of the right turn at the T-junction, he added.

As part of the rescue effort, it was unclear what progress they had made, or exactly where they were in relation to the "Pattaya Beach" chamber.

At Mae Sai Prasitsart school, where six of the missing boys were studied, special prayers were held for the junior soccer team during the morning assembly on Monday.

"I am really worried, but I am hopeful because my friend is strong," Thanakorn Ingsilapakul, 15, told Reuters.