Thailand cave rescue: Four boys rescued from cave, governor confirms
The Chiang Rai governor has confirmed four boys have been rescued with the next operation to take place in 10-20 hours.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the rescue of 12 Thai boys and their coach from a flooded cave. The rescue chief has confirmed four boys have been rescued.
12.33am: Plans for next rescue effort
Tham Luang rescue chief Narongsak Osaththanakorn said all rescue teams would meet to discuss the first rescues and how to conduct the next operation.
“We will have meetings for each team so I apologise for not being able to give you a lengthy press conference.
“I confirm again that we have successfully rescued four and it has been our masterpiece work. I thank all operation units. We have many thousands people working on this and everyone is so happy.
“The divers who took the kids out hugged them, as you may have seen on TV.”
Charlie Peel 12.30am: More UK divers join rescue effort
Three more cave diving experts from the UK have flown to Thailand to help with the mission, currently underway, to extract a trapped soccer team from a waterlogged cave.
The group, made up of some of the world’s best cave divers, warned there was no guarantee of the mission’s success but deemed authorities had run out of other options.
The reinforcements, who travelled to the extensive cave system in the mountains in the country’s north at the request of the Thai government, brought the total number of British Cave Rescue Council members assisting on the ground to 10.
There are seven specialist cave divers, including Richard Stanton and John Volanthen, who found the boys on Monday night after they had been missing for ten days.
There are also three non-divers working in a support role.
They were called in after the Governor of Chiang Mai Province, Narongsak Osottanakor, announced a reassessment of the situation concluded the boys and their coach could not stay in the cave throughout the monsoon season and would need to be extracted.
The group planned to assign two divers, including Navy divers from the United States and Thailand and cave divers from Australia, to each child.
Pumping efforts over the past week and a dry spell meant the water in the cave system’s first three chambers had dropped enough to make part of the journey walkable, but the return of flooding rain meant the rescue mission needed to begin.
In a statement, the BCRC said other options to rescue the boys had been exhausted.
“Pumping out enough water to let the boys wade out has run out of time as heavy rain is imminent,” the statement said.
“The rain will reverse the remarkable progress made over the last few days.”
Drilling into the cave from above had also proved too difficult and waiting out the four-month monsoon season was not an option.
“Drilling equipment cannot get through the dense foliage, there is no exact known surveyed target to direct the drill; drilling could destabilise rocks above the children or block passages and increase flooding,” the BCRC said.
“Sitting out the monsoon on a small, crumbling ledge with reduced oxygen and the risk of it severely flooding during the monsoon rains is no longer considered to be a viable option.”
It meant that assisting the children to dive out of the cave was the “least risky” option.
“What appears to have begun this morning is an extremely difficult and very hazardous operation,” BCRC said.
“It is expected to take days to complete in spite of the best endeavours of some of the foremost cave divers in the world there can be no guarantee of success.”
12.15am: Four boys rescued from cave: governor
Tham Luang rescue chief Narongsak has confirmed four boys have been rescued from the flooded cave.
The first two emerged at 5.40 and 5.50pm, and the third and fourth at 7.40 and 7.50pm.
The first two had already been taken to Chiang Rai hospital via helicopter and two more are on the way there now.
All four had to dive a full kilometre to safety, and he confirmed the strongest came out first.
“We expected the divers would go in at 10 and maybe we would see the first (rescue) at 9pm,” Mr Narongsak said. “But today’s operation is more successful than expected.”
“Ninety divers from around the world helped us today,” he said.
“Fifty were professionals from abroad and 40 were Thai locals.”
The next operation would begin within 10-20 hours, but all factors — including the weather — would have to be evaluated before then.
Equipment would also be checked and all oxygen tanks refilled.
The outgoing Chiang Rai Governor would not confirm the identities of the boys, though The Australian understands the first two to emerge were Mongkol “Mark” Boonpium, 13, and Prachak “Note” Sutham, 14.
11.37pm: ‘I still don’t know about Ake’
The aunt of the Wild Boars coach, Ekkapol “Ake” Chantawong, has said she still has not heard whether her 25-year-old nephew has been evacuated from the cave.
Umporn Sriwichai told The Australian from the cave site that she was “very excited” that rescuers were bringing out the boys so quickly.
“So far there are four that have come out but I still don’t know about Ake because authorities are not telling us the names,” she said.
11.31pm: Media briefing soon
Standby for a media briefing by the rescue joint command in just under 30 minutes.
11.20pm: Six rescued: defence source
A total of six boys among a group of 13 trapped inside a flooded Thai cave have been rescued, a defence ministry official said on Sunday.
“Six of them came out,” the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
AFP
11.13pm: Two out, two to follow
Four boys among a group of 13 trapped in a flooded Thai cave for more than a fortnight were rescued on Sunday, authorities said, as elite divers raced to save the others.
The first two emerged from the Tham Luang cave complex after navigating a treacherous escape route of more than four kilometres through twisting, narrow and jagged passageways.
“Two are out of the cave. Two more are likely to follow shortly,” Lieutenant-General Kongcheep Tantrawanit told AFP.
AFP
11.04pm: Second boy’s identity revealed
The Australian has been told the second boy to have emerged from Tham Luang caves at 5.50pm this evening was Prachak “Note” Sutham, aged 14.
10.50pm: Up to four boys rescued
The Australian now understands that three of the Thai young footballers have been evacuated from the flooded Tham Luang cave as rescue operations continue, with as many as three more on their way out of the cave.
Lieutenant General Kongcheep Tantrawanit said another four of the boys are expected to walk out “shortly” after reaching the divers’ command centre inside the cave, AFP has reported.
“Four boys have reached chamber three and will walk out of the cave shortly,” he said.
The first two boys reportedly walked out of the cave on their own two feet — one at 5.40pm and one at 5.50pm — and have now arrived by chopper at Chiang Rai hospital.
Mongkol “Mark” Boonpium, 13, was the first to emerge, local Thai media is reporting.
The rescue operation appears to be happening far quicker than expected.
Rescue command chief and outgoing Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osoththanakorn told reporters this morning that the first boy could emerge by 9pm (12am AEST).
10.35pm: ‘The kids are out’
The first two schoolboys have emerged from a flooded Thai cave after divers launched a daring and dangerous mission to rescue the children and their soccer coach, who have been trapped underground for more than two weeks. “Two kids are out. They are currently at the field hospital near the cave,” Tossathep Boonthong, chief of the health department in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, told Reuters.
“We are giving them a physical examination.” Thirteen foreign divers, including eight from Australia, and five members of Thailand’s elite navy SEAL unit are trying to bring the rest of the boys - some as young as 11 and weak swimmers - through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai navy diver on Friday.
Reuters
The first boys are out. #ThaiCaveRescue @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/OKeYcaswPT
— Janis Mackey Frayer (@janisfrayer) July 8, 2018
Thirteen medical teams were stationed outside the cave - each with its own helicopter and ambulance - one for each of 12 boys and their coach. After an initial assessment at the site, the boys will be airlifted to a makeshift helipad close to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital, some 70km away. A source at the hospital said that five emergency response doctors were awaiting the party and a further 30 doctors were on stand-by, adding that everyone was feeling tense.
“The teams here are happy the boys are being rescued but also anxious about the severity of the boys’ conditions. We’re under a lot of pressure,” she said, declining to be named because she was not allowed to speak to the media.
Reuters
10.15pm: Ambulances seen leaving rescue site
Two ambulances have left from a cave in northern Thailand, hours after an operation began to rescue 12 youth soccer players and their coach. The ambulances were seen Sunday evening, but it was unclear who was inside them. Chiang Rai province acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn, who is heading the operation, said earlier Sunday that 13 foreign and five Thai divers were taking part in the rescue and two divers will accompany each boy as they’re gradually extracted. He said the operation began at 10am (1pm AEST), and it will take at least 11 hours for the first person to be taken out of the cave.
AP
10.05pm: First two boys rescued: local official
The first two members of a Thai schoolboy soccer team have been rescued from the flooded cave where they had been trapped for more than two weeks, a local rescue official said.
Authorities in northern Chiang Rai province began the dangerous mission to bring out the 12 boys and their coach earlier on Sunday.
"Two kids are out. They are currently at the field hospital near the cave," Tossathep Boonthong, chief of Chiang Rai's health department, told Reuters. "We are giving them a physical examination. They have not been moved to Chiang Rai hospital yet." pic.twitter.com/XJgM6HTnBk
— Matthew Tostevin (@TostevinM) July 8, 2018
“Two kids are out. They are currently at the field hospital near the cave,” said Tossathep Boonthong, chief of Chiang Rai’s health department and part of the rescue team.
“We are giving them a physical examination. They have not been moved to Chiang Rai hospital yet,” Tossathep told Reuters.
Reuters
9.48pm: Two boys successfully rescued: report
Thai news site Khaosod English is reporting that the first two boys have been successfully rescued from the flooded Tham Luang cave and walked on their own two feet to a nearby field hospital set up outside the cave.
The report has not yet been confirmed by Thai authorities who are expected to hold a briefing in just over two hours.
Khaosod reported at 6pm (9pm AEST) that the first boy walked out at 5:40pm and the second at 5:50pm and that they were being assessed by a medical team.
The boys were expected to be sent by an awaiting helicopter to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, 60km away, where a medical team are reportedly on standby, Khaosod reported, citing police radio chatter.
Authorities said this morning that a team of 18 international and Thai divers would be unlikely to be able to extract the first of the 13 young footballers trapped for the past 15 days on a sandy slope 3.2km inside the cave.
At least four helicopters and 13 ambulances have been on standby since early this morning when Thai authorities cleared the rescue camp of all media and began preparing for the risky underwater extraction.
Narongsak Osottanakorn, the outgoing Chiang Rai governor and rescue operations chief, said this morning that the boys were mentally and physically ready for the gruelling dive ahead and would be brought out one by one, each one accompanied by two professional divers.
9.20pm: The Wild Boar left behind
For two agonising weeks Songpol Kanthawong has sat glued to the television watching hour after hour of news at a time of day he would normally be out with his best friends playing soccer.
The 13-year-old boy from Mae Sai, the northern Thai border town at one corner of the infamous Golden Triangle with Laos and Myanmar, was one of only two members of the Wild Boars football team who didn’t go to the Tham Luang caves on June 23 after the team’s regular Saturday football game.
His mother had asked him not to go because she had overheard Songpol’s little brother asking if he could come too and she didn’t want the 11-year-old going into a 10km cave complex that most locals consider a dangerous and highly spiritual place.
Songpol told The Australian he didn’t argue with her because he had already heard that many people had been lost there over the years.
8.50pm: Unknowns in first rescue operation
Operation chief Narongsak Osoththanakorn says because of the complexity of the cave and difficulty of the operation, it is unknown how long it will take before the team can bring out the first batch of boys.
Reporting on the progress of Thailand’s cave rescue operation, he said the divers will work with medics in the cave to assess the boys’ health before determining who will come out first.
They cannot decide how many of them will be able to come out for the first operation.
He said the operation began at 10am (1pm AEST) when 13 international divers entered the cave. Ten divers headed for chamber nine (where the boys are) and chamber six (near the junction) as planned.
Another three cave divers performed their duty to support diving efforts beginning at 2pm (5pm AEST).
There are a number of additional rescue personnel including divers, from Thailand, USA, Australia, China and Europe stationed from chamber three to the entrance. This includes a rope system to assist over difficult terrain in chambers two and three.
7.15pm: The rescue mission in perspective
Rain continues to fall as rescuers work to retrieve the team and their coach. But what exactly is the task facing divers? This graphic helps to put the mammoth task in perspective.
6.35pm: Feared rainfall hits
The torrential rain everyone has feared has arrived, drenching the media centre just kilometres from the Tham Luang cave where the rescue mission is currently underway.
6pm: Thai cave rescuer’s survival guide
British rescuer in Thailand John Volanthen has likened cave diving missions like the one now underway to “the puzzle with the fox, the chicken and the grain”, saying panic is the real enemy.
Mr Volanthen, who ran a vital guide line to the trapped soccer team 3.2kms inside Tham Luang cave
“Getting us and all our kit to the end of such a long cave - it’s like that puzzle with the fox, the chicken and the grain,” Mr Volanthen said. “It’s not dangerous if you do it right. There are just a large number of little things that you have to be on top of at all times.”
If something goes wrong - a piece of equipment fails, you get trapped at a “pinch point”, or you take a wrong turn in what is in effect a pitch-black underwater maze - the first instinct would be to panic. The exact opposite is required.
“We are only a few evolutionary steps on from running across the plains, but things are so much more complex,” he told me. “The flight response now isn’t always appropriate. Panic and adrenaline are great in certain situations, but not in cave-diving.”
5.30pm: Thai PM travels to cave site
Thai prime Minister Prayut Chan-Ocha will travel to the Tham Luang cave tomorrow to meet with the boy’ families and oversee the rescue effort, CNN reports.
It cited a Thai government spokesman, Lieutenant General Sansern Kaewkamnerd, as confirming the PM would arrive Monday by which time divers would have been working for almost 24 hours already to bring the 12 boys and their coach to safety.
Authorities have said the boys will be brought out one by one, over a staggered period of time, and that the difficult dive extraction could take as long as four days.
The divers set off towards the boys, who are located 3.2km inside the cave, at 10am this morning and were expected to reach them within five hours, meaning they should be reaching the boys minutes from now.
5pm: Divers get to work
Five Thai Navy SEALS are among the team of 18 rescuers now diving towards where the team have been trapped 3.2km in to the flooded Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand.
Thirteen international divers are also involved in the operation including at least one Australian doctor with extensive cave diving experience who was specifically requested by British divers.
The civilian doctor, believed to be Adelaide anaesthetist Richard Harris, dived into the boys yesterday and assessed their health before giving the final green light for today’s operation which began at 10am (AEST 1pm).
The first freed member of the team is not expected to emerge from the cave before 9pm (AEST midnight) tonight at the earliest, and authorities have said it could take between two and four days to get all 13 out, depending on the weather and water levels.
Weather forecasts are predicting rain all week and possible thunderstorms on Thursday.
4.45pm: A joint effort
Thailand’s Navy SEALS have posted a message of hope on social media, alongside a touching photo of rescuers locking wrists in a show of solidarity, and sporting what appear to be Buddhist prayer beads.
“We Thai and the international teams join forces to bring the young Wild Boars home,” the caption reads.
The SEALS update finished with their battle cry; “Hooyah!”
4.15pm: ‘Where have you guys been?’
The young girlfriend of trapped Thai teen Pornchai Kamluang has spoken of her regret over an angry phone exchange shortly before the 16-year-old entered Tham Luang cave.
Warangkana Somsamoechai, 14, says she warned her boyfriend, better known as Tee, not to enter the caves that day as part of a team challenge organised by the Wild Boars’ soccer coach.
The two argued after a morning soccer match, then again on the phone around 2pm, right before the group entered the caves. She says she hung up on Tee in anger and now wishes she could take it back.
One other boy was prevented from going with his teammates only because his mother worried his younger brother would sneak along
Video clips shot by the teens on the way to Tham Luang show them riding under cloudy skies, over roads wet with recent rain.
3.30pm: Rescue could take four days
Thai rescue authorities are saying it could take as long as four days to extract all 12 boys and their coach from the flooded cave where they have been trapped for 15 days.
Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osoththanakorn told reporters at a press conference a few hours ago that the first of the rescued boys could emerge as early as 9pm (midnight AEST) but warned operations could stop and start depending on conditions.
But Thai third army deputy commander Chalongchai Chaiyakum said the entire rescue mission could take as long as four days.
“They will come out gradually...one will be accompanied by two (divers),” Thai third army deputy commander Chalongchai Chaiyakum said.
“It will take time. It’s not that we start 10am today and everything is done. We will continue the mission until the last one is out.
“It could be two, three or four days.”
Two days ago Thai authorities were saying it was taking the rescue divers six hours to reach the boys where they are sheltered 3.2km inside the flooded cave, and five hours to return with the current.
Since then the water levels have dropped as much as 70cm inside the cave, although that would vary depending on which point was being measured.
The divers will likely reach the boys in quicker time now, but the journey out - with a boy tethered between two rescuers will be slower progress.
Guide ropes have been tethered the entire 3.2km length of the cave journey the boys must negotiate though they will be most critical in the first 1700 metres.
In that stretch the boys, who have only just learned to scuba dive, will have to negotiate narrow corridors jaw-lined with sharp stalactites and stalacmites in zero visibility.
The most challenging point will be the last one hurdle of the third chamber where the Thai NavySEALS have set up a rescue command.
The boys and their coach will have to negotiate a U-shaped bend in the cave which is believed to be only 38cm high.
3.00pm: Aussie doctor is anaesthetist Richard Harris
The Australian doctor who has joined the rescue effort has been named as Richard Harris, an anaesthetist from Adelaide. The OzTek website describes him as a “tech diver and underwater photographer” who has been involved in cave diving exploration in China, Christmas Island, NZ and Australia.
2.35pm: Aussie doctor involved in rescue effort
An Australian civilian doctor with extensive cave diving experience who flew into Tham Luang two days ago at the specific request of the British cave diving team, went into the cave yesterday and after assessing the health of the boys and their coach gave the green light for the operation to proceed.
He is now understood to be part of today’s rescue effort.
2.26pm: ‘Today is D-Day’
A terrifying rescue operation to free 12 Thai boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave has begun with 13 international divers and five Thai navy seals now on their way to where the team have been trapped for 15 days underground.
Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osoththanakorn told reporters just now: ´“Today we are most ready. Today is D day. At 10am today thirteen foreign divers went in to extract the children along with five Thai navy Seals.”
He said the 13 footballers were physically and mentally prepared for the gruelling extraction and would be brought out one by one, each accompanied by two divers.
The first of the boys to be freed could emerge as early as 9pm local time (midnight AEST). But, he warned, the operations could stop and start depending on conditions.
“There is no time limit for the operation. It depends on the weather and water level. If something changes we will stop but we expect the operation will finish in a couple of days,” Mr Narongsak said, “The fastest one might come out around 9pm. If we don’t start now we might lose the chance.
“I beg everyone outside to pray for them and support them,” he added.
The outgoing governor who has been the spokesperson for the rescue mission told reporters that the operation reached “peak point of readiness” at 9pm (midnight AEST) last night.
“We have prepared everyone on land, road and evacuation too. We have prepared the helipad. There are more than 13 ambulances.
“Now the 13 (boys and coach) of them - their health and their minds are ready and they are ready to go out.”
The families had been briefed and they were also fully prepared, he added.
Water levels inside the cave dropped a further 30cm yesterday, the lowest they have been thanks to continuous pumping efforts, and while rain set in late Saturday and persisted throughout rescuers said it was less than they expected.”
Chiang Rai governor says the next update will be at 9pm (AEST midnight) – nine and a half hours from now.
1.57pm: Up to eight hours for each boy
The governor of Chiang Rai said 13 international and five Thai Navy SEAL divers went into the cave to begin the rescue operation at 10am local time (1pm AEST).
“We can say they are all international all stars involved in this diving operation and we selected five of our best who can work with them,” governor Narongsak said.
We know it takes about five hours for them to reach the boys who are trapped 3.2km inside the cave.
It will take divers six to eight hours to get each boy the 1700 metres through the flooded area of the cave to the third chamber.
The last hurdle will be the most difficult as the boys must squeeze their way through a U-shaped bend less than 40cm high.
“We expect that the storm will come in a couple of days. Now the 13 of them, their health and their minds are ready and they all have knowledge of the mission. They’re ready to go out,” he said.
The next update will be at 9pm local time (midnight AEST).
1.53pm: Boys out one by one
The boys and their coach will be brought out one by one but the operations may stop and start depending on conditions.
1.50pm: All boys healthy enough for rescue
An Australian doctor who specialises in this area assessed the health of the boys and their coach last night and gave them the green light to proceed.
However they face be an arduous and dangerous dive and it will be some hours yet before the first boys emerge from the cave.
1.35pm: ‘Pray for them’
Governor Narongsak said: “I beg everyone out side to pray for them and support them.
“We have prepared everyone on land, road and evacuation too. We have prepared the helipad. There are more than 14 ambulances.”
He added: “For the 13 of them the rescuers are world all stars.”
“Today is the D-day. The boys are ready to face any challenges,” rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters.
1.30pm: Rescue operation underway
Thai officials have confirmed the rescue operation is now underway. The governor of Chiang Rai gosaid the operation started at 10am local time (1pm AEST). Rescuers will take the boys out one by one. How quickly they move them out will depend on the conditions and water levels. “If we don’t start now we might lose the chance,” he said.
1.25pm: Stand by for press conference
Stand by for a press briefing at the new media site at Pong Pah subdistrict office a few kilometres from the Tham Luang cave site about to happen
For the first time a doctor will also brief the waiting world media - suggesting we may soon have information on the condition of the 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach who have been trapped 3.2km inside the flooded cave for more than a fortnight now.
Media will be briefed by the outgoing governor of Chiang Rai Naronsak Osottanakorn, Deputy Commander of 3rd Army Chalongchai Chaiyakum, Doctor Thossathep Boonthong, Deputy Police Commander 5th region Choorat Panngao
New media Centre set up at Pong Pah district office, a few km from #thamluangcave. Now awaiting news of rescue operation. Rumors that first boys to be brought out at 4pm but no confirmation of that pic.twitter.com/KeRdOkkAmy
— amanda hodge (@hodgeamanda) July 8, 2018
1.15pm: Families’ letters of love
Letters from the parents and relatives delivered to their children deep inside a flooded cave ahead of today’s rescue effort focused on building up the confidence and reserves of the boys - aged just 11 to 16 - and their 25-year-old coach ahead of what will be a gruelling and dangerous dive extraction.
Here are some of their letters
To Mongkol “Mark” Boonpium, 13
“Mother is waiting for you in front of the cave. Miss you. Don’t get angry and I love you so much. Take care of yourself.”
To Peerapat “Night” Sompueanghai, 16, from his father
“Your Parents are still waiting for you in front of the cave. Please hurry and make yourself healthy. Mother says she knows you can do it. You can get through it. You can overcome. Don’t think too much but I miss you. And sister Num father Ui and Mother Ui and our relatives are providing moral support to you always. Father and mother love you so much.”
Nattuwat “Tle” Takumsong, 14, from his parents
“ Suk (Father) and Ea (mother)are waiting for Tle in front of the cave. “
To Prachak “Note” Sutham, 14, from father Ng and mother Dao
“Father and mother are missing you. Take good care of yourself. Please send message to coach Ake as well - ‘don’t think too much. Don’t be angry with yourself’. “
To Pipat “Nick” Pothi, 15
“Nick please take care of yourself. Father and mother are waiting. Father B, Mother Nang and brother Bonas are waiting as well. “
To Akekarat “Bew” Wongsukchan, 14
“Father and mother are missing you so much. I love you always. “
To Chanin “Titan” Wiboonrungrueng, 11, from his mother
“I am waiting for you in front of the cave. I love you. I miss you very much. I want to hug you and I want you to not give up. I am waiting for you. I want you to believe that you can do it. I am providing moral support to you always. I love you more than anything else.”
Coach Ekkapol “Ake” Chantawong, 25, from grandmother
“I am waiting for you in front of the cave. Don’t think too much grandson. Take care of yourself. Your grandmother, brother and other relatives are in front of the cave right now. I want you to overcome. I am providing moral support for you to not give up. No one blames you for the situation. I miss you so much. I want you to fight and I want to hug you. I want you to come it very quickly.”
Group letter from the families to coach Ake
“Parents of the kids want the coach to take good care of their 12 boys and don’t feel guilty for anything
They want to know about coach Ake’s condition, including mental state, and parents want to provide moral support to the coach because they don’t want him to feel guilty for taking their children inside the cave.
Parents thank the coach for taking care of their kids.
The coach took children into the cave and he has to come out with children. Everybody is waiting for him to take the children out.”
Group parent letter to all the children
“Right now everybody is waiting for their kids. The parents are not angry with the boys. Don’t be worried about this. Try to cover your bodies properly because the weather inside is cold.
“Don’t worry, everybody will come out very soon,” they tell the kids
12.45pm: Will Musk mini-sub be used?
Elon Musk has posted an intriguing tweet suggesting that Thai rescuers might use his revolutionary mini submarine in the rescue attempt.
No word on whether this is actually something that is being used, or more promotional material, but an interesting concept https://t.co/5BLev8k3Ar
— amanda hodge (@hodgeamanda) July 8, 2018
The billionaire had dispatched a nine-member engineering team to help with rescue efforts
Mr Musk, had previously suggested using a double-layer Kevlar pressure pod or a long inflatable air sock to penetrate the narrow passageways and provide a rescue conduit. The tubes and pods are being built in the US, a spokesman said. Some equipment travelled with the team while other equipment was being express-shipped.
“No need for SCUBA mouthpiece or regulator,” he wrote on Twitter about his ‘kid sized’ subs. “Training unnecessary & less susceptible to panic attack.”
12.15pm: Rescue worker rushed to hospital
A Thai rescue worker has been transported to Chiang Rai hospital with serious injuries after a car fell off the Doi Pa Mi mountain above the cave overnight during continuing survey efforts to find a “chimney” leading to the trapped boys and their football coach.
Thirteen people are believed to have been in the car as it slipped off the road.
Four people were injured and taken to Mae Sai district hospital five kilometres from the Tham Luang Cave site.
Three sustained only minor injuries but one man was rushed to Chiang Rai hospital an hour away in a serious condition.
The mountain is part of the Khun Nam Nang Non mountain ranges.
Police Ute at the #thamluangcave site pic.twitter.com/3Siv6HIKQJ
— amanda hodge (@hodgeamanda) July 8, 2018
11.50am: Hospital prepares beds
The local Mae Sai hospital has prepared a ward with 13 beds in it in case the boys and their coach require emergency treatment before being transferred to the provincial hospital in Chiang Rai.
Stretchers are being prepared at the site by medics.
Media now have ten minutes to clear the area or have their equipment impounded.
The road leading to the camp where everyone is hoping the 12 boys and their coach will be transported back to their family in coming hours pic.twitter.com/vSXJAGQ79j
— amanda hodge (@hodgeamanda) July 8, 2018
11.35am: Water levels still falling
The final evacuation briefing is believed to have begun at the site among military commanders and emergency services chiefs ahead of the attempted rescue of the boys through 1700 metres of flooded canyon.
A briefing white board inside the park headquarters appears to show that water levels have continued to fall marginally, at least in the first 600 metres of the cave overnight, despite persistent and at times heavy rain, though not at the previous rate of 1cm an hour.
Family members appear to have left the site after maintaining constant vigil since June 23.
The room where many of the relatives had bedded down on floor mattresses is now empty.
11.30am: Possible 12pm start for rescue
Thai authorities have given a deadline of 9:00am local time (12PM AEST) for non essential personnel to leave the site, asuggesting the rescue would commence at that time.
However officials did not clarify whether the complex effort to dive the team out of the kilometres-long Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand had started.
11.05am: Area evacuated ‘for rescue’
Thai authorities have give media an hour to clear the site so that a “rescue operation” can take place, appearing to confirm that an operation to free the 12 boys and their coach has begun.
Police have just broadcast an announcement at the site warning media against taking photos during the rescue.
“Assessing the situation now, it is necessary to evacuate the area for the rescue operation,” said Mae Sai police commander Komsan Sa-ardluan over a loudspeaker.
“During the operation no media on premises are allowed to take photos. Anyone taking unsuitable photos will be held responsible”.
10.30am: Rain forces rescuers’ hand
After days of frantic water pumping and preparations to try and lower the water levels inside the 10km cave complex heavy and persistent rain overnight appears to have forced the hand of the rescue team.
More divers arriving now at #Thamluangcave as the rescue site is cleared out. Evacuation of boys appears imminent pic.twitter.com/DA86LmbUMo
— amanda hodge (@hodgeamanda) July 8, 2018
Rescue workers have taken over the media tent, and a line of 10 ambulances has arrived at the cave network, while police and divers continue to arrive at the site.
The last of the media contingent has been told they must leave the area within thehour, suggesting the first of the boys may come out soon after that.
Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osoththanakorn had told reporters yesterday that conditions would be expected to be “most favourable” in a few days, but that any onset of monsoon rains could trigger an earlier operation.
“If we wait too long we don’t know how much rainwater will come,” he said.
“Now we can control the risk at one level but if the risk increases to the point that we cannot accept, we will make a decision.”
That point appeared to come overnight.
After two weeks of accommodating an ever-growing international media contingent security forces blocked all roads into the area from 6.30am this morning local time (9.30am AEST).
The Australian is among the few still inside the media area.
Row of ambulances heading into Thai cave site - amid reports the rescue is underway or at very least imminent. @abcnews #ThailandCave pic.twitter.com/Cj3qPLZBqk
— Anne Barker (@AnneABarker) July 7, 2018
Earlier, Thai rescuers began firming up a timeline for the evacuation of the boys from the flooded cave in northern Thailand, nominating Monday or Tuesday as the “most favourable time for the operation”.
“I can guarantee that three to four days from now is the most favourable time for the operation and rescue mission using one of the action plans,” Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osoththanakorn told reporters Saturday.
“If we wait too long, we don’t know how much rainwater will come. Now we can control the risk at one level but if the risk increases to the point that we cannot accept, we will make decision.”
“Today the kids are still healthy, they can talk, joke, only have some small wounds.”
Engineers have been diverting all water flows into the cave they can find in the past week and pumping it out at a rate of 180,000 litres an hour.
Authorities now say that almost the entire first 1500 metre stretch from the cave mouth to the third chamber — where the Thai navy SEALS have set up a command post — is now walkable and that they have the water levels under control.
But weather forecasts predicting rain today (Sunday) that will likely grow more intense in coming days will quickly close the window for an evacuation of the 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach before the cave refills.
“If it rains we don’t know the new risk. The water comes like a tsunami. We encountered that situation twice so we have to look at the most suitable situation,” Mr Narongsak said.
“Now the conditions of the kids and the water levels are the best. We will choose the plan that has the highest chance to succeed with the least risk, but we have to understand that every operation requires risk management.”
The 13 footballers and their families exchanged heart-rending letters overnight Friday, couriered by divers from within and outside the cave, in which the boys spoke of their longing to reunite with their loved ones and resume normal life, eat fried chicken and help in the family shop.
“I’m fine but it’s a little bit cold,” 13-year-old Duangpetch “Dom” Phromthep wrote stoically to his family. “Don’t worry and don’t forget my birthday.”
Notes from the parents and relatives outside the cave focused on building up the confidence and reserves of the boys _ aged just 11 to 16 _ and their 25-year-old coach ahead of what will be a gruelling and dangerous evacuation.
“We are still waiting for you in front of the cave,” wrote the father of Peerapt “Night” Sompueangchai. The youngster turned 16 on June 23, the day the team were trapped in the cave by flash floods.
“Please hurry and make yourself healthy. Mother says she knows you can do it. You can get through it. You can overcome. Don’t think too much but I miss you. Father and Mother love you so much.”
The extreme perils involved in the dive operation were underscored early Friday morning by the death of a former Thai Navy SEAL, Saman Gunan, who died after losing consciousness while on a return dive from placing spare oxygen masks at way stations along the route from the boys to the cave entrance.
Mr Narongsak would not say how rescuers planned to extract the boys and their coach from the sandy slope where they have been sheltering for the past fortnight, though it seems most likely that each will be dived out in “buddy” formation with a Navy SEAL to which they would be tethered.
An international diving rescue team, which includes divers from the Australian Federal Police special response team, from China, Britain and the UK, US, Danish, have already tethered guide ropes along the 1700 metre stretch of dark, winding and _ in parts _ frighteningly-narrow corridors to aid the boys.
But, he said, all the plans had been “on the board in the war room and all the task forces in this operation have rehearsed.
“There’s a team that continues rehearsing and another team that is adjusting the plan.”
Two teams of foreign specialist cave divers had arrived in recent days to help lead the extraction which became more critical this week after authorities discovered oxygen levels were steadily falling inside the cave because of the ramped up rescue effort.
Rescuers are now pumping air through a tube into the third chamber and had sent ending oxygen tanks to where the boys are sheltering, beyond a difficult series of bends and narrow corridors a further 1700 metres into the cave and had stabilised the environment.
But the realisation this week that air inside the cave was thinning _ and that monsoonal rains and more flooding would only further deplete oxygen levels there _ have forced rescuers to all-but rule out the boys waiting out the monsoon and walking out of the cave when it dries four or five months down the track.
“Time is limited,” Mr Narongsak told reporters at a midnight Friday press conference after a five hours commanders’ meeting at the rescue base.
“If they stay in the cave for a long time where will they find the air to breathe? If it rains heavily and the water level increases then there will be less air.”
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