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.
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.
Source - TheNation
