Can not a drill be used to open a hole from above?

As cave specialists from around the world converge on the Tham Luang Nang Cave, the inevitable monsoon rains of northern Thailand make relief increasingly dire. A former Thai Navy diver died during rescue operations Thursday after running out of oxygen while he was trying to deliver air tanks

USA TODAY compiled this list of questions and answers to explain why the mission is so difficult. :

If rescuers know where the boys are, can not we use an exercise to open a hole from above and hoist the boys?

The place where the boys are and their coach is about half a mile, through the mostly solid rock. The mountain terrain above the cave is a thick jungle, with few access roads.

Forrest Wilson, the chief of divers at the National Cave Rescue Commission and who has 50 years of experience in underground diving from above is not impossible. But the cave maps are not precise enough to determine exactly where to drill.

"It will take a long time to break a half-kilometer of cave," Wilson said. "I do not think there is time."

Is there no way, using modern technology, that rescuers can get a more accurate solution of where are the boys?

Yes. This is what is called a radio cave locator and it's basically a beacon that transmits a radio wave inside the cave and that allows people to know exactly where they are. find the tag – and the people trapped –

using such a tag – or if that makes a difference in the rescue effort. Since drilling such a rock would take weeks, having a precise location is probably a moot point.

This is a great cave. Why are rescuers so worried about oxygen?

The ventilation of the surface is bad. There is simply not enough air in the cave space to support 12 boys and one adult for a long period of time. Rescuers are trying to pass an oxygen line from the entrance of the cave to the room where the trapped people are, but it is about three miles.

The level of oxygen in the cave is estimated at about 15%. The level of oxygen is about 21%.) A low oxygen level means that simple tasks like thinking and basic physical exertion are gradually becoming more exhausting.

The water of the cave can not be pumped? Heavy industrial pumps pump water out of the cave 24 hours a day, and authorities said Friday they pumped more than 35 million gallons last week. But considering how a cave is a huge reservoir of water, the millions of gallons pumped represent proverbial drops in a bucket.

In about four months, the dry season of Thailand would naturally deplete the water of the cave. But rescuers do not believe that boys can stand so long, given the levels of oxygen and other concerns.

So, what is the best chance of getting people trapped?

Find a back entrance to the cave. "A cavern as big as the one they are in must have a rear entrance," Wilson said. "There would be no problem if they found one, they could put harness on the children and remove them."

But finding this cave entrance in such a jungle is extremely difficult. The entrance would probably be a simple hole in the ground, commonly called a "chimney" which, hopefully, would descend directly into a cave near where the boys are. But the entrance hole of such a chimney would be difficult to spot because of the forest. "There are people walking everywhere in this jungle right now trying to find it," says Wilson

Can not boys just swim with the help of expert divers?

Of course, but it's very risky. The boys and their coach have been trapped for almost two weeks and are weakening. Most do not know how to swim. Authorities, however, are increasingly thinking that this is perhaps the best solution at this stage, as heavy rains are expected Sunday. The commander of Thailand's Navy Seal said Friday that such an operation would be a daring and risky operation, but that this was perhaps the only chance.

"It would be a hell of a job," Wilson said. "Children are not fit to swim, it's a five-hour swim job, it's scary."

How many times are people trapped in caves United States and other countries? Is this rescue more difficult than others?

The Thai rescue operation is probably more treacherous than others because of the size of the cave, the monsoon season and the isolated area. Wilson said that in his many years as a diver, "I've never done so much" that the Thais tried to save.

More: 'They can not dive right now': The football team is not ready to escape of the Thai cave

To find out more: An Illustrated Look at the Rescue of the Thai Caves

Towards the end of the 1970s a group of 39 students in Kentucky under somewhat similar circumstances. The students went to a dry cave which, after a heavy rain, filled with water to block their way out. Eventually, all the students were rescued after the divers had kept them with blankets and food.

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Is there any way to (19659010) One of the best defenses that Explorers of caves can be armed is the knowledge of the coming weather: If it seems that it may rain, it is not a good idea to go to the bottom of it.

But preventing the exploration of caves, even on rainy days, is unlikely.

"It would be like saying to people," Do not drink and drive, "Wilson said. "People will do it, even if it's risky."

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