Thai cave rescue: Rescue could happen ‘today or tomorrow’
AS experts admit their rescue window to save 12 boys and their soccer coach is getting smaller, a cave diver assisting in the risky mission has said rescuers could swing into action imminently.
RESCUERS working to save 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded Thai cave could swing into action imminently.
Ivan Karadzic, a Danish cave diver volunteering in the risky mission, was explaining the difficulties of the operation on Sky News.
When asked how soon would it happen, Mr Karadzic responded, “today or tomorrow, I think”.
“There’s few people who have experience rescuing kids from deep inside the cave,” Mr Karadzic said.
Danish volunteer cave diver Ivan Karadzic has told Sky News he believes a rescue of the 12 schoolboys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand will happen "today or tomorrow"
— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) July 6, 2018
Rescuers have admitted their rescue window is getting smaller, and a new theory has emerged for how the soccer team could be freed from being trapped underground in a Thai cave.
According to The Guardian, the chief engineer at the centre of the dangerous rescue mission believes his team may be able to drill down to the boys.
Drilling was ruled out as an option early on, but Thanes Weerasin, the president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, has revealed that a drilling crew are looking at a tunnel with a large hole about 100 metres into it.
“It’s a big hole, about 1.2m by 1m,” he said.
“You can go down using a rope … I think this place can lead to the children because after your foot touches the ground below, you can walk through using the compass and direct it to the tunnel [where the children are stuck].”
In a 20 metre direction of the boys’ location, Weerasin said he reached another hole that had a boulder in front of it. After placing a borescope through a gap, he saw it extended up to another 10 metres.
He now thinks it could lead rescuers to the boys and their coach.
“I think this hole is near there.”
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The theory comes as heavy rain has hit the rescue site, which is expected to impact on their rescue mission.
Heavier rain now coming down at #Thamluangcave. Likely to complicate rescue efforts if it continues pic.twitter.com/g31N2fJUW2
— amanda hodge (@hodgeamanda) July 6, 2018
THAI DIVER’S DEATH SPARKS ADMISSION
A former Thai Navy Seal diver’s death from a lack of oxygen has raised serious concerns about how much air the boys and their soccer coach have access to inside the cave.
Chiang rai governor Narongsak Osotthanakor, said oxygen levels have been reduced by the rescue workers going into the cave system.
The Guardian reports that officials are now working to get a five kilometre-long cable into the cave to supply them with more air.
The move comes after Thai SEAL commander Apakorn Yookongkaew told a news conference on Friday that the rescuer was working in a volunteer capacity.
The diver, identified as Samarn Kunan, was coming back from a spot inside the Tham Luang cave where the group were located when his supplies ran short.
“On his way back he lost consciousness,” said Apakorn, adding that a friend had tried to help bring him out.
“But even though we have lost one man, we still have faith to carry out our work.”
Apakorn also indicated that rescuers may have little choice but to attempt the tricky extraction of the group in comments on Friday, in the first official admission that they cannot wait out the monsoon underground.
“At first, we thought the children could stay for a long time... but now things have changed, we have a limited time,” he said.
Asked how the boys could make it out safely if an experienced diver could not, Apakorn said they would take more precautions with children.
The diver’s body has been sent to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.
Thai authorities are racing to pump out water from a flooded cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since June 23.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the Australian government has sent condolences to the diver’s family and the Thai government.
“We are at a very critical stage. Some very serious decisions will have to be made over the next few days. Hopefully not weeks to see how these boys and the football coach can be rescued safely. Australia already has 14 personnel on the ground, from the Federal Police, defence force, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,” she said.
HUGE EFFORTS TO PUMP OUT WATER
Before the death of the Navy Seal, experts revealed a way 12 boys and their soccer coach could potentially walk out of a Thai cave, as they race against time with monsoonal rains on the way.
A military operation in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system is doing everything possible to drain water out so they boys can walk, instead of being taught how to swim and use scuba gear.
Poonsak Woongsatngiem, a rescue official with Thailand’s interior ministry, told reporters they are trying to remove water inside the third chamber of the cave so the boys can walk while wearing life jackets.
The water in the cave would be up to their waistlines, but would reduce the pressure on the boys to swim alongside experienced divers.
“We [are] target[ing] the water in the third chamber to reduce to the point that no diving equipment is needed, like to the waistline, so one can wear just life jackets and walk out,” Woongsatngiem said.
“The water level between the third chamber and the point the students are at is still high and we have put the tubes at the third chamber trying to get the water out as much as possible.
“We can’t say whether there will be a rescue today or not. We hope there is no rain.
“We cannot calculate how much the water flows out of the cave because there is always water flowing into the cave.”
After the third chamber, the boys would have another 2.5km of path to walk out of the cave. A Chinese diver at the site, Wang Ying Jie, said the maximum water depth they would then encounter would be about six metres.
Already, the water in the cave has been cut down by 40 per cent, clearing 1.5km of the treacherous cave system where the boys are trapped with their coach.
The boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach went exploring in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in the Northern Province after a soccer game June 23.
They have now been underground for 12 days and counting.
IF THEY CAN’T WALK OUT...
The boys aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach are on an elevated embankment about four kilometres from the cave’s main entrance.
If they are unable to walk then they may be forced to swim and use scuba gear provided to them.
BOYS ‘TOO WEAK’ TO LEAVE CAVE
A medical evaluation of the boys and their football coach has found that it is too risky to try to move the group out on Thursday.
A member of the Thai Navy SEALs who is not authorised to speak to the media confirmed the status of their health as the SEALs have also started to pump oxygen into the chamber.
According to CNN, a new doctor’s report said that two of the boys and the coach were suffering with exhaustion from malnutrition.
New details of the operation emerged on Thursday, as rescuers ploughed ahead with different plans to get the group — who have been trapped underground for almost two weeks — out.
With heavy rains forecast this weekend, rescuers are formulating a plan to extract the boys before flood waters rise any higher.
Thirty more Navy SEALs arrived at the caves overnight to help with rescue operations, according to Captain Supachai Thanasarnsakorn, deputy chief of the Thai Navy SEALs.
They join the 80 already involved in the rescue operation comprising active, reserve and former SEALs.
A firefighter who has been working on draining the water said parts of a passage leading to the chamber where the group was found on Monday was still flooded to its ceiling, making diving the only way out.
“What we worry most is the weather,” Chiang rai provincial Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn told reporters. “We can’t risk having the flood back into the cave.”
BOYS MAY GET OUT ONE-BY-ONE
Narongsak said he asked the SEALs in charge of extraction plans to estimate what sort of a risk would be involved to take them out and “what kind of readiness we can have today and decide if we can take that chance.”
He said the 13 may not be extracted at the same time, depending on their condition. They’ve practised wearing diving masks and breathing, in preparation for the possibility they may have to dive.
“This morning, I have asked for 13 sets of (diving) equipment to be prepared and checked the equipment lists and place them inside (the cave) in case we have to bring them out in this condition with less than 100 per cent readiness,” he said.
“All 13 may not come out at the same time. If the condition is right and if that person is ready 100 per cent, he can come out,” he added.
MORE AFP EXPERTS COMING FROM AUSTRALIA
Australia is sending more experts to help in the rescue.
“With the rescue effort at a critical stage, Australia is sending two more Australian Defence Force specialists with expertise in disaster recovery and planning,” Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said.
“An additional senior Australian Federal Police officer will also be deployed to support planning and co-ordination efforts.”
The experts will join six AFP diving experts that have been assisting the massive rescue operation since Saturday.
AFP Specialist Response Group Diver appearing on @abcnews to discuss our role in the #ThailandCaveRescue . #Thamluangcave #TeamEffort #PullTogetherAsOne pic.twitter.com/XV5MpPMOfQ
— AFP (@AusFedPolice) July 5, 2018
CABLES BEING INSTALLED IN CAVE
The navy has released videos of the boys, showing them smiling and interacting with the personnel sent into the cave to bring supplies, treat their injuries and keep them company.
One Thai navy SEAL team member who spent time with the boys said the young soccer players “were always asking about the World Cup.” “I told them that all the big teams had gone home,” the navy SEAL member said.
Seeing the boys has boosted the mood of their family members, and officials are working to install an internet cable to the cave so that parents can talk to their children.
Kian Kamluang, whose 16-year-old son, Pornchai, is in the cave, said she had thought there was a 50 per cent chance that her son would be found.
“It’s like he has been given a new life,” she said, adding that she’ll never let her son go into a cave or near water again.
WORST CASE SCENARIO
Cave rescue experts have said it could be safest to simply keep the boys where they are, and wait for the flooding to subside.
That could take months, however, given that Thailand’s rainy season typically lasts through October. Experienced divers are wary of taking out the boys through the dark and dangerous waters still in the cave, especially since they are untrained.
“We are talking kilometres of transport under the water with zero visibility,” said Claus Rasmusen, a certified cave diving instructor based in Thailand who has been helping Thai SEAL team with logistics. “It’s difficult.” He said it was awkward, but possible, to teach them minimal skills. “Nobody will teach anyone a full cave course, but trying to get them comfortable with masks, with the breathing, (is) completely different,” he said. “Creating an environment that can make them safely get away, that’s feasible.”
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