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THAM LUANG CAVE, Thailand – A cave diver called it the underground equivalent of climbing Mount Everest – but without guides to make things easier. Another told of a tough six-hour ordeal, including having to climb rocks of several floors before sinking again into viciously strong and troubled currents.
For the 140 divers from Thailand and around the world 12 boys and their football coach from a distant cave in the flooded network of Tham Luang caves in northern Thailand have pushed their abilities to the maximum.
The interviews with the more experienced of them are centered on one fact: The most difficult challenges of cave diving in the world, and now they have to somehow keep boys reasonably healthy in oxygen-depleted air while trying to teach them to attempt an underwater leak
focus on Friday with the death of a volunteer, a SEAL Navy SEAL Thai diver named Saman Gunan, 38 years old who lost consciousness on his return from placing extra tanks along the road to the hit boys. The Thai authorities said he had died around 2 am Friday after attempts to revive him.
[ Read the details of the accident in the Times update briefing. ]
that they work against a deadline, even as they attempt to gauge and navigate a network of caves with complex geology, narrow passages in places and currents precipitates swollen by the monsoon rains
The boys would be able to survive long there, "said Arpakorn Yookongkaew, commander of the Thai navy SEAL, Friday to the press." But now things have changed. We have a limited time. We have to work hard. "
The oxygen level in the cave of boys is about 15 percent and decreases," he says, which is worrisome: less than 16 percent can cause hypoxia, which in Extreme cases may be fatal 19659002] The divers' work was therefore desperate, and on Thursday evening they started directing a pipe to the cavern in hopes of pumping more air, in addition to air tanks for future use, as Mr. Saman did.
the cave so that officials could better coordinate the rescue attempt and allow the boys some contact with their families. In the current state of affairs, messages must be mailed to divers who face a difficult 12-hour round-trip journey from the cave entrance to the cavern at nearly three and one-half miles.
Ben Reymenants, Belgian cave diver who operates a store d he dive in Thailand, was part of the group that found the boys on Monday, after more than a week of research. He said that the muddy current that pushed him during his initial dive was as powerful as that of the Colorado River.
"You literally pull yourself, hand in hand, in zero visibility," said Mr. Reymenants, 45 years. interview. "You can not read your depth gauge, you can not read the time, so you basically fly blind in a direction you do not know."
Reymenants said that he and other experienced divers initially thought that finding the group would be impossible under such terrible conditions.
But after it was clear that the Thai Navy's commanders would continue to send their SEAL members, Mr. Reymenants said he volunteered to dive.
"These children were at the age that they could have been my son," he says. "A Navy SEAL can not stay there while these kids are dying in the cave, they have to show some activity – and if you're a Navy SEAL, yes, you'll sacrifice yourself."
More than 110 divers are Thai SEAL members, and they set up a command center in a dry place. Cavern area known as Room Three, where the crews are based around the clock. It is about a mile away for boys, but it's the hardest mile. Most of it is under water with few pockets of air.
"Everything is water and darkness," said Admiral Arpakorn. "There are a lot of alleys, from top to bottom.We can say that this mission is very brutal."
An American diver, an Air Force relief specialist who is a part from a team sent from Okinawa to Japan, said that getting the boys out now would require them to guide them under the water.
The cave complex, which has never been fully mapped, has many different formations, said the American, who could not be identified by his name for reasons of security. [19659002Cen'estpasuneseulerivièrequitraverselagrotteadoesilditettouteslesvoiesnavigablesnesemblentpasêtredirectementreliéesLepompagedel'eauàproximitédel'entréedelagrotteneréduitpasnécessairementleniveaudanslespartiespluséloignéesduréseaucommedanslecasdesgarçonsetdeleurentraîneur
Under & # 39; water, everything is 10 times harder than "
The terrain varies from & # 39; region to region & Other – from the sandy bottom to the deep mud passing through the rocks the size of a house. In one place, the waters converge to create occasional geysers.
Currents can flow quickly, especially when it is raining outside and the water level in the cave is rising.
In some places, he says, one can see on the walls of the cave – much higher than the levels of today – showing how much water has risen in the past.
Some passages are atrociously narrow – as small as 2 feet by 2 feet and a half, said Mr. Reymenants. But circumstances forced him to explore the cave in a risky way, even for a professional who has plunged into dangerous places around the world, he said,
"Normally, I would turn around, but normally I do not have 12 boys, and their entire lives, as a final point. "
Even as divers and rescuers head the challenges of this environment worry about depleting oxygen in the cave of the boys became The commander of the search and rescue operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn, said Thursday night that three people in the cave were weakening, although They remained in relatively good condition.
Ekkapol Chantawong, who allegedly gave his share of the meager food supply to boys during their 10-day trial before their discovery, is suspected of having three.
The reduction of oxygen can also cause serious problems. Dinko Novosel, the president of the European Cave Rescue Association, said in a phone interview that with an oxygen concentration of 15% or less in a cave – roughly where it is located – "You can survive, but you can not do anything … It's like being in high mountains."
Admiral Arpakorn said the divers would continue the work that Mr. Saman was doing, in bringing air tanks and placing them at designated points along the road towards the group cave. Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, who closely monitored the rescue operation, ordered that Mr. Saman receive a funeral sponsored by the King and that his family be taken care of.
A video clip widely shared on Twitter shows Mr. Saman wearing sunglasses. "We will bring the kids home," he says.
Richard C. Paddock and Muktita Suhartono reported on Tham Luang Cave and Mike Ives of Hong Kong
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