Thailand Football Team Found Alive But Still Underground In Cave
Thailand Football Team Found Alive But Still Underground In Cave: A dozen boys and their football coach have been found alive in a flooded cave in northern Thailand nine days after they went missing, following an international rescue effort that involved thousands of people and transfixed the nation.
The group was discovered on Monday afternoon perched on a muddy ledge by British volunteer divers — part of a Thai military-led rescue team — in the Tham Luang caves in the northern province of Chiang Rai. Monsoon rains forced rescuers to battle their way through more than 1km of water and mud to reach them.
The search in recent days had focused on a dry, elevated area of the cave complex nicknamed “Pattaya Beach”. Divers were hampered by poor conditions and had to turn back several times.
Divers from the British Cave Rescue Council, a volunteer group, confirmed late on Monday that the boys — aged between 11 and 16 — had been found.
“All 12 of the boys and their coach have been located in a dry air space south of the Pattaya Beach area of Tham Luang Non cave,” the group said. “It is estimated that they are around 200m south of that underground landmark.”
The statement prompted jubilant scenes among members of the group’s family, who had been waiting outside the cave for days.
News of the rescue prompted jubilant scenes among members of the group’s family, who had been waiting outside the cave for days © AFP
The boys went missing on June 23, leaving their bicycles and other possessions at the entrance to the cave, which stretches 10km inside a mountain in an area of Thailand near the border with Myanmar.
Thailand’s military government mobilised troops and police, while rescue and volunteer teams were sent from the US, China, Australia, Laos and Myanmar.
Rescuers looked for air shafts in the sprawling area, dropping care packages and notes in an effort to reach the boys, while family members and well-wishers prayed outside.
The rescue effort has now shifted to ensuring the boys’ health and finding a way to extract them.
Narongsak Osottanakorn, Chiang Rai’s provincial governor, on Tuesday would not confirm whether the 12 boys and their coach would be extracted today, adding that they would only be removed when it was 100 per cent safe. Rain was falling in the area on Tuesday morning.
The rescue effort has dominated recent headlines in Thailand and spawned a host of social media memes. It has been likened to the 2010 rescue of 33 men from a gold and copper mine in Chile in 2010, who were all found alive after 69 days underground.
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