Thai SEALs pumped for early cave rescue

Thai navy SEALs expect to begin evacuating 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand today.

One of the boys inside the cave yesterday. Picture: AP

Thai navy SEALs are expected to begin evacuating 12 young boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand as early as today after intense sunshine and sustained pumping ­efforts reduced water levels and eased fierce currents.

The Australian understands fast water currents inside the cave that had made diving difficult for even the most experienced black-water divers had slowed significantly and, with monsoonal storms expected tomorrow, rescue conditions were as good as they were likely to get.

The Thai military has said rescuers wanted to be “100 per cent sure the boys could dive” before they attempted any extraction.

But The Australian was told yesterday by rescuers with knowledge of the evacuation plan that the SEALs were confident they could bring the boys and their 25-year-old coach out safely today if those conditions held out.

Water is pumped out of the caves. Picture: AFP

It also emerged that the coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, was just 10 years old when he lost his entire family — first his seven-year-old brother, then his mother and ­father — to an illness that swept through their village. He had since dedicated himself to the football team. “He loves those boys very much because he lost his ­father,” his aunt told The Australian.

Hundreds of military and police yesterday rehearsed evacuations while inside the cave Royal Thai Navy SEALs were teaching the boys and their coach — none of whom can swim — how to dive, starting with the ­basics of how to breathe in full-face scuba masks.

Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osoththanakorn confirmed water levels were receding thanks to round-the-clock efforts to pump water out and ­divert water sources that flow into the cave.

“Everything is going to plan. We are trying to take as much water out as possible,” he said, adding that rescuers were taking care of the boys “as though they were our own kids”.

“The water level is reducing but there is still some coming in. If we can keep the water out of the cave at this pace, the SEALs will be able to do their job better.

More pipes are brought in to drain the floodwaters. Picture: AP

“It’s quite difficult because sand and stones are being washed down with the water. We have to wait to confirm with the SEALs whether the water is low enough for the students to dive. The situation we most prefer is that the cave is dry. That’s the perfect situation, but we can’t wait for that.”

Thai infantry teams and forestry officials have continued to explore other potential exit points, including an adjacent 900m-long cave, in the hope it might connect to the 10km-long Tham Luang cave and save the boys having to undertake what experts describe as an intensely dangerous evacuation. Thirteen holes had been drilled in the mountain above the cave and explored for possible entry points, and teams had narrowed those down to the three most promising options.

But the governor played down the drilling option yesterday, indicating the rescue effort was focused on reducing water levels and leading the team out through the mouth of the cave.

The boys, who spent their 12th night underground last night ­accompanied by a SEAL team, including a doctor and nurse, will be required to dive through narrow canyons of muddy water — in some sections only wide enough for one — and wade through neck-deep water.

Last night they were several kilometres away from that point on high sloping ground where they took shelter after they became trapped by flash floods on a weekend hiking trip on June 23.

 

Fresh footage taken early yesterday and uploaded to the Thai SEALs Facebook page showed the boys, some wrapped in silver insulation blankets, in good spirits and introducing themselves to the camera. Another showed them being treated for superficial wounds.

Delighted relatives watched the television footage at the sprawling tent city outside the cave.

Five-year-old Beam Wongsookjam told reporters he was looking forward to playing football and video games with his trapped 14-year-old brother ­Akekarat once he had been freed.

Efforts were continuing yesterday to lay phone and internet cable several kilometres into the cave in the hope the boys could speak to relatives.

An earlier attempt to connect the boys to family failed after the waterproof seal of a phone sent into the narrow, muddy cave system was breached.

“Once the phone gets in there we want the families to talk to them so a lot of pressure is relieved,” Mr Narongsak said.

 

Freshly cooked Thai meals, packed in waterproof containers and ferried into the boys throughout the day with the help of a team of international divers — including six from the Australian Federal Police Special Response Group — have also buoyed their spirits.

Australian Defence Force warrant officer Chris Moc, part of the Australian rescue effort, said divers were forming a human chain to ferry supplies through the cave to the boys, and place oxygen tanks along the route.

“It’s a fairly long and arduous route to where the children are and so they need to place supplies all the way along that route to maintain the guys that are coming in,” he said.

While the pumping effort has been critical to improving conditions in the cave, conditions at the sprawling tent city outside have deteriorated, with hundreds of rescuers and journalists wading through ankle-deep mud.

More pipes have been brought in to accelerate the pumping ahead of expected storms ­tomorrow.