13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

[fountainhall]

CNN is reporting a third boy has been evacuated from the cave.

Now AFP is reporting four boys will walk out of the cave entrance shortly. Amazing news!

[tree]

Six boys have now exited the cave - reports
A senior member of the rescue medical team has reportedly told Reuters that six boys have now exited the Tham Luang cave complex.

[tree]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/ ... -boys-live

Four boys confirmed rescued with another operation planned in 10 hours
The boys travelled 1km underwater with the first coming out at 5:40pm local time.

The operation chief, Narongsak Osottanakorn, says four out of the 12 boys have so far been rescued and were taken straight to hospital

Rescue workers now need 10 hours to prepare for the next stage of this remarkable operation.

[tree]

The rescue has been concluded for the night and will resume in 10-20 hours because “we’ve used all the oxygen,” according to the operation chief.

“Its actually just falling quiet here,” says Dan Johnston on the BBC News Channel. “There’s been a lot of activity in the past few minutes. It looks like people are leaving this site for the night.

“One thing to bear in mind is the tiredness levels of the cave diving exerts who are leading this operation. They have been working busily all day and it looks like some of them are actually leaving the dive site now.

“It looks like they’ve taken the decision that they have done as much as they can for today.”

The operation is set to resume at 8am local time with officials and volunteers buoyed by the fact that their method of rescuing the boys by diving has been successful insofar.

[Gaybutton]

Thank goodness they're getting them out.

I don't know how long it will continue, but CBS news is broadcasting live:


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‘Mark’, 14, first the emerge from cave

July 08, 2018

By The Nation

The first Mu Pa Academy footballer rescued from the Chiang Rai cave has been identified as Mongkhon Bunpiem, 14.

He emerged from Tham Luang Cave at 5.10pm and was examined at a field hospital before boarding an ambulance to an airfield for the helicopter ride to Chiang Rai Prachanukraw Hospital.

Mongkhon, whose nickname is Mark, is a football academy trainee who has played football since childhood and tends to wear football jerseys all the time. His favourite team is Thai League's Muangthong United.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30349602
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However, it is not entirely good news, but at least he's out:

July 08, 2018

The condition of one of the first two footballers rescued from the Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai yesterday is causing some concern.

He has been listed as red, signifying a serious case. The two were brought to Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital.

A Twitter user, Lisa Wilkinson, quoted Australian medical expert Dr Richard Harris who examined the 13 Mu Pa Academy members in the cave as saying that the weakest boys would be brought out first.

This is contrary to earlier statements from the rescue team that the strongest will come out first.

Wilkinson claimed that the weakest boy was listed as code red, meaning a serious case. At 9pm on Sunday, four boys had been evacuated from the cave.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30349609

[stkyricesf]

Please guys from Thailand keep the updates coming. You get the updates faster than we do in the US. Thanks

[Gaybutton]

Please guys from Thailand keep the updates coming.

Those of us posting updates certainly intend to do just that, but please bear in mind we're not always around our computers, smartphones, and TV screens when updates come in. We try to get the latest news posted as quickly as we can.

First, this video:




At the time of this post in Thailand it is 6:40am, Monday morning. No new news has come in yet, but we have daylight now, so operations are likely getting started. During the night the rescue teams were replacing the used air canisters that had been set up along the way. I would imagine the pumps are continuing to try to pump out as much water as possible.

The water being pumped out has no place to go other than the local rice paddies. The rice farmers, who are poor enough as it is, have all said - all said - they are happy to sacrifice their rice in order to help save the lives of these boys.

When you look at the graphic in the second article below, notice that the boys do not actually wear scuba air tanks. The lead diver actually carries the tank for the boys.

In the meantime, I thought these articles were interesting:
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"You can't make a horror movie that would even compare": Diving expert talks Thai cave rescue

by Meg Oliver, CBS News

July 8, 2018

After more than two weeks trapped in a dark cave, eight boys and their soccer coach are waiting their turn for the risky escape. Four boys have already made it safely out of the cave.

"This is the most scary situation that a person could go through, said Anmar Mirza. "You can't make a horror movie that would even compare ... "I've been involved in cave rescue for 30 years and I cannot even think of one that is this complicated."

Mirza is the national coordinator of the National Cave Rescue Mission. He says the complexity of the extraction is off the charts.

The path out is a dangerous one. Thirteen foreign and five Thai divers have to navigate dark and tight passageways filled with murky water and strong currents.

Two divers will accompany one child as they stick to a cave line that stretches the entire mile and a half distance. Divers have taught the boys to breathe through scuba equipment for the areas they must swim underwater for extended periods.

"The trust factor between the children and diver makes it -- it's probably 90 percent of what gets them out of the cave," Mirza said.

An international team has taken shifts bringing them food, medical supplies and comforting letters from their parents. Their soccer coach even taught them to meditate to stay calm.

"The good news is that the first phase was successful, so they had an opportunity to show it works," Mirza said. "It's still dangerous but it's much better odds for the remaining kids to come out now because of those initial ones."

After pumping out water for days, experts say the window to rescue the boys is closing and it is now or never. It's possible that everyone could be rescued within 48 hours.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thai-cave- ... e-mission/
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Boys emerge from cave

Rescue mission tastes big success after circumstances were seen as most suitable to evacuate the boys all 13 stranded footballers likely to be brought out within next two days; 18 divers taking part in evacuation.

Four of the 13 young footballers trapped in the flooded Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province were being evacuated yesterday, marking a major success in the complex rescue mission, said mission chief Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn said at about 8.30pm.

The rescue operation for the remaining eight boys and their 25-year-old assistant coach will be conducted as soon as rescuers finish preparation and deploying relevant equipment including oxygen tanks in the cave, Narongsak said.

The process will spend about ten hours, he added.

At press time yesterday, the four boys were already receiving treatment at Chiangrai Hospital.

Earlier, the Royal Thai Air Force’s Facebook fanpage “Air Force Media by Kawin AFU” was among the first to disclose the good news of the evacuation operation. The page informed that two boys, who were not identified, had been successfully brought out of the cave at around 6.10 pm, while another survivor had already reached the Navy SEALs’ operation base in the third chamber of the cave.

A military source said earlier that the first two boys who were brought out had already been transferred to the field hospital just outside the cave entrance for a medical check-up.

The source said the operation would be concluded in two days.

Former Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osotanakorn, who heads the rescue mission, told a press conference yesterday at 10am that operations had begun to evacuate all the trapped footballers out of the flooded cave, as all factors were suitable for the mission and all the stakeholders, including families of the survivors, had agreed to give the go-ahead.

Under the current operation plan, each trapped footballer is being escorted by two diving specialists through the entire length of the cave to the entrance. Along the way, they have to climb, squeeze themselves through narrow passages as well as dive through the heavily submerged sections of the cave.

The first survivors were able to finally leave the dark confines of the cave 16 days after they were all stranded. The 13 were caught in flash floods during a visit to the cave on June 23, but they managed to find a dry shelf where they remained without food for 10 days until they were located by specialist divers.

“We have finally reached the highest level of preparedness to bring all trapped survivors out of the cave, so we have to seize this perfect opportunity when we have the most readiness to execute this daring mission,” Narongsak said.

“This perfect situation will not last long, as within the next few days there will be storms and heavy rains in the area that can significantly increase flood levels inside the cave and endanger the trapped survivors and all the officers inside.”

Disclosing details of the evacuation plan, he revealed that a total of 18 diving specialists would participate in this mission – 13 are international specialists, while the other five are from Thailand.

They all have the necessary expertise and skills to perform evacuation operations in difficult situations and hostile environments such as inside the flooded cave, he assured.

The decision to go ahead with the operation comes before the arrival today of evacuation pods built by the engineers of SpaceX as assistance from the company’s founder Elon Musk to aid in the evacuation operation. “The major obstacles to our operation are water and time. We have raced against these two challenges since the first day and we still have to race against them on this mission too, so we cannot miss this chance to save these boys” Narongsak said.

He said once the survivors are brought out of the cave, they would be taken into the field hospital for medical examination by 13 medical teams, one for each survivor, in order to determine how to treat them based on three categories: green for healthy, yellow for minor injuries, and red for critical injuries.

KEY EVENTS ON RESCUE OPERATION D-DAY

7.28am Chiang Rai deputy governor invites all relatives of trapped footballers to the operation command office.

9am All reporters are told to leave the Tham Luang cave.

10am Chiang Rai former governor announces launch of rescue operation.

10am First survivor begins exit dive, with two escorts.

Noon Reporters are told to leave area around Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital.

3pm Police close area around Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital to traffic.

5.10pm The first evacuated footballer to reach cave mouth.

7.25pm Four footballers rescued at press time.

Story and photos: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30349608

[Gaybutton]

CBS News is now live streaming:

[Captain Swing]

CBS News in the US says that Thai media is saying the coach was one of the four rescued. Have you heard this? CBS says presumably it is because he was one of the weakest, having given what little food he had to the boys. I thought for sure he'd be the last one out, but it was said earlier that the weakest came out first. But I see and hear in the US at least 2 or 3 versions of every detail. Maybe it's just a rumor that the coach is out.

[Undaunted]

CBS News in the US says that Thai media is saying the coach was one of the four rescued.

Speaking with people in the U.S. they seem to get the news before some Thai outlets so I am surprised some wait to see updates here, it is also interesting that this heart wrenching story has eclipsed any news event that has happened since I live in Thailand including coups and the passing of the former king.