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THAM LUANG CAVE, Thailand – British diver John Volanthen placed guiding lines to try to get close to the 12 missing boys and their football coach trapped in a network of flooded caves when he ran out of line himself , forcing him to
They were there, all 13, to look at him through the light of his headlamp. After 10 days of efforts against the monsoon rains and the rise of water in the cave, the search for the missing football team had finally succeeded.
If his line had even been 15 feet shorter, he would have returned this dive on Monday night. The group would have spent at least another night alone in the dark, not knowing if a rescue would ever come.
"Literally, he finished his line, stuck the spool in the mud, and they looked down." Vernon Unsworth, his friend and fellow explorer of the caves, said Tuesday:
Research is officially turning Towards a rescue operation on Tuesday, the main issue has now been the best way, and the best time, to get the boys and their trainer out of the cave.
Capt. Anand Surawan of the Thai Navy raised the possibility that, in the worst case, the 13 would be in the cave for four months until the end of the rainy season.
"I was surprised myself," said Supanat Danansilakura, chief public relations officer of the Royal Thai Navy "Four months?"
Others have argued that it would be hard for boys and dangerous to leave them in the cave for so long, even though 39, they had light, food and others They could be injured or risk becoming infected and be psychologically injured by an extended stay in such an environment.
The fact that boys' officials and parents could even discuss how best to extract them is remarkable. The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach disappeared in Tham Luang cave on June 23 after a football practice on Saturday. Heavy rains then began to fall, and water rose in the cave complex, blocking their exit.
"When we discussed this mission, we immediately said that this mission was impossible." who oversees the search and rescue operation. "In English, it will be an impossible mission, like the movie, but the SEALs were very confident in their abilities, and they told us that they would bring out the boys."
The Thai government has mounted a huge rescue operation and sent dozens of divers to the cave to try to reach the boys. were supposed to be. A senior official said that they would not spare any expense.
A country that often seems divided between the rural poor and the urban elite has been united by the hope of finding missing boys. King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun personally interested in research, sending kitchen trucks to feed the research teams and raincoats to protect them from the downpour.
Half a dozen countries sent teams to help, including the United States. 30 included 17 Air Force Search and Rescue Specialists
Relatives of the disappeared spent most of the 10-day search waiting for news in plastic chairs under a temporary canopy near the Command Center. l & # 39; transaction. shouted with joy on Monday night when they heard that the group had been found. At that time, the Thai authorities had moved the parents inland to a private area, and most of the journalists covering the search were prevented from talking to them.
Tham Luang Cave was a tall order. The seven-mile-long cave system is simple enough for hiking and climbing during the dry season. But during the rainy season – theoretically from July to November – the complex can fill with water and submerge many of its passages
The divers finally made a breakthrough, literally, when they chipped the rocks and a passage that had been
Once they had created a sufficiently large opening, they could advance to the place where they suspected the group was, about three miles away. the entrance to the cave
. Volanthen and Rick Stanton, two British civilian divers, found themselves leading on Monday night, laying the guide ropes that divers can use to cross turbid or turbid water.
That is when Mr. Volanthen ran out of line and appeared that he saw the group of skinny boys, some sitting, some standing, on a shelf above the line of water.
He was relieved to find them all alive. The boys were excited about the prospect of food
"Eat, eat, eat," one of the boys called.
The two divers installed a pair of diving lamps to illuminate the cave, probably the first
This was the first of several supplies of necessary supplies, including food and medicine, in the next 24 hours .
"At first we had only hearts and manpower," Governor said. "Lately, we have all the resources, even though we are tired and tired, we are fully equipped."
Medical teams gave the group protein-rich foods to help them regain strength. And they were evaluating how quickly the trapped team would be able to get out of the cave.
Unsworth, a British speleologist living nearby and who has been exploring Tham Luang Cave for more than six years, said it would be far better for the boys to be taken away immediately by experienced divers rather than have to wait for months. 19659005] "It's only the logistical question of how to get them out because they've never dipped before," he said. "They will have to learn very quickly, as in the next few hours.If it is not today, it could be tomorrow."
He said boys could use facial masks to not have to learn to breathe through a demand valve, which most divers use.
According to him, other experienced divers who participate in the rescue should be able to take them safely through the flooded passages of the underground system, he said.
Leaving them underground until the end of the rainy season. 19659033] Mike Ives contributed to the reportage of Hong Kong.
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