The rescue mission of the caves in Thailand will continue, the Prime Minister tells the families



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THAM LUANG CAVE, Thailand – Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday offered encouragement to the families of 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave complex, and pledged to pursue a massive search "Until they go out, the officers will never abandon them," said Mr. Prayuth to about 75 relatives during his visit, in which he also inspected the company. entrance to the cave and talked with the officials leading the monitored research.

Later, however, the officials acknowledged that they encountered many obstacles in finding the boys, aged 11 to 16, and their coach, 25, missing since Saturday afternoon.

Despite a large mobilization of soldiers, park wardens The operation was little advanced.

The governor of Chiang Rai Province, Narongsak Osottanakorn, who oversees the operation, said a few days ago that rescuers could reach Chile. dren by today. Instead, rising floods further flooded the cave.

Now, he says, he could not predict when rescuers could find them, even under the best conditions

. "We do not want to guess, but we are doing our best."

The group is trapped in the Tham Luang cave, a popular destination for explorers of northern Thailand

The cave complex was relatively dry when the team came in six days ago. But since then, heavy rains have caused floods, preventing the team from escaping and making the road virtually impassable to rescuers.

The governor said Friday afternoon that the researchers had descended about 40 meters into a newly discovered chimney. and in a muddy room. They were exploring for an opening in the main cave system.

"What will be the result?" Asked he. "We can not answer, but we will continue to work."

The football team would have traveled at least three miles and reached a large cave known as Pattaya Beach

. Only once did Mr. Narongsak say that he had to cross muddy waters and narrow passages to reach a point beyond the flooded area. Once there, he said, they had little time to search before having to turn back.

And after this success, he says, the water level rose even higher.

The government has brought more than 40 pumps try to reduce the volume of water. Nevertheless, the level of water has continued to increase.

Friday, he says, was the first day that the pumps could track the volume of water entering the cave.

"We think that's a progress. A separate plan for drilling a hole from the top of the mountain up to the Pattaya Beach cavern also had problems

Workers must first analyze the rock at the same time. help of a sophisticated scanning equipment. According to Niwat Boonnop, director of the Mineral Resources Office of the region that includes Tham Luang, [traduction]

However, one must locate the appropriate equipment and determine how to transport it. It has proved difficult to reach the steep mountain, as well as to track down a rig and a generator that can be transported by helicopter.

At one point in the week, a research team found a narrow opening above the cave. o supplies. But there was no way of knowing when he had reached the football team

The Prime Minister's visit was a reflection of the importance of the operation of search and rescue for the country.

Many Thais were captivated by the King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun said he was following the events closely, helping to attract the attention of government officials

. Prayuth, the head of the Thai military government, spoke with family members for about 30 minutes, sometimes walking around topics such as politics and vegetables to plant.