#ThaiCaveRescue: Mission in third day to extract remaining four members of football team and their coach from a cave in northern Thailand

All 12 boys and their coach out of flooded cave system, Thai navy Seals confirm

All 12 of the "Wild Boars" academy team and their 25-year-old coach have now been rescued from the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand, Thai Navy Seals confirm.

Four of the players and their coach have escaped on an extended operation on the third day of the rescue mission.

Final Wild Boar leaves the cave

An Australian doctor, who has been providing medical checks before the boys start their journey, and four Thai navy Seals are yet to come out of the caves.

The group were stuck in the cave since June 23 and under went a 4km long journey to escape.
The four boys and their coach who were rescued today are being taken to Chiang Rai Hospital for medical treatment.

Source -TheNation / nationmultimedia.com/

Two more Mu Pa footballers removed from Tham Luang cave Tuesday

Two more young footballers of Mu Pa Academy football club on Tuesday separately emerged from Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province on the day 3 of operation to remove the remaining four football players and their assistant coach.

Chief operation Narongsak Osottanakorn said earlier that the rescue authorities expected to remove all the stranded Mu Pa members from the cave today.

The operation that began on Sunday have already retrieved eight of the 13 Mu Pa members who got stuck in the cave since June 23.

The ninth boy emerged from the cave at 4pm while the tenth about 20 minutes later.

They received medical examinations at a field hospital erected near the cave.

They will follow the same pattern by boarding an ambulance to board helicopter to Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital.

The young Mu Pa Academy footballers, whose name have not been revealed, were taken by ambulance from the cave in Mae Sai district before boarding a chopper to Chiangrai Prachanukraw hospital in Muang district. They became the second and the third to come out of the cave on day two of the operation to evacuate the footballers and their assistant coach from the cave, where they were stranded 15 days ago. On Monday, four of his team members were separately extracted from the cave and are receiving treatment at the hospital.

Source - TheNation

#Thailand - Mission Day 3 begins to evacuate final five

Efforts resumed on Tuesday morning to evacuate the remaining five Mu Pa Academy football club members from Tham Luang Cave in the hope of bringing them all to safety within hours, the mission chief said.

Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters the operation started at 10.08am with 19 divers assigned to extract four young footballers and their 25-year-old assistant coach, Ekkapon Chantawong.

He said they got an earlier start than on the previous two rescue days, Sunday and Monday, and felt confident in the experience gained.

Despite rain overnight, the water level inside the cave was similar to that of Monday, Narongsak said.

Also to be brought out on Tuesday were the physician and three Navy SEAL divers who had stayed with the remaining footballers on the Noen Nom Sao ledge where they’d been found stranded.

Flash flooding trapped the group in the cave on June 23, sparking a multinational rescue mission that had to overcome numerous difficulties, including strong currents of murky water submerging sections of the cave.

A pair of British cave divers found them on July 2, alive but exha

usted on a sandy ledge above the water level.

Their state of health posed a further challenge to the rescue effort, as did the surging water levels and rough subterranean terrain.

Narongsak decided on Sunday to launch the rescue operation after being assured the water had receded and the boys’ health was improving thanks to nourishment given them by the SEALs team.

Narongsak said two of the boys evacuated on Sunday emerged with lung infections, but their condition was improving with doses of antibiotics.

The eight boys undergoing treatment at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital were in general good health, both physically and mentally, he said.

One of them has low body temperature after spending days in the cold cave but is also improving.

Source - TheNation

Thaiand - Rescue bid tipped over next few days

Leaders of the rescue effort at Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai are considering whether it will be practical to bring out the 12 trapped young footballers and their coach from the flooded cave over the next few days. 

It would be "favourable" to stage an evacuation before fresh rain and a possible rise in carbon dioxide sets in, according to former Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn who has been put in charge of the rescue operation. 

 "Now, water in the cave is down to satisfactory levels and the weather is fine. The boys' health has begun to improve and they have now learned the basics of diving," said Mr Narongsak, who is now Phayao governor.

"In the next two or three days, the conditions may be perfect to carry out the rescue plan,'' he told reporters yesterday afternoon. 

 The main concern is now the level of oxygen in the cave, Mr Narongsak said, adding that more clean air has been fed into the cave and more oxygen tanks have been brought in.
The number of rescuers operating in the cave complex will now be kept to a minimum to preserve oxygen and prevent a possible increase in carbon dioxide, Mr Narongsak said.
However, at least four rescuers will be sent in to look after the 12 boys and their coach who are sheltering on the ledge called Nern Nom Sao, he said.
Mr Narongsak added that two more British cave diving experts have arrived in Chiang Rai to support the rescue bid and another two from Britain will come today.

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FIFA boss invites Thai cave boys to World Cup final

Moscow - FIFA president Gianni Infantino has invited the Thai boys' football team trapped in a cave to the World Cup final, as messages of support poured in from top players.

    Infantino said he hoped the Wild Boars team, who were stranded by rising floodwaters two weeks ago, would be rescued in time to watch the final in Moscow on July 15.

    "If, as we all hope, they are reunited with their families in the coming days and their health allows them to travel, FIFA would be delighted to invite them to attend the 2018 World Cup final as our guests," he wrote in a letter to the head of the Football Association of Thailand.

    "I sincerely hope that they will be able to join us at the final, which will undoubtedly be a wonderful moment of communion and celebration."

    The Thai footballers, aged 11-16, have been stuck in darkness deep underground after setting off to explore the cave with their 25-year-old coach after training on June 23.

    The players remain trapped despite being reached this week by cave-diving rescuers, who released footage of them looking emaciated but calm, some wearing football shirts.

 Their harrowing ordeal coincides with the World Cup in Russia and it has not escaped the attention of players.

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    "I've been speaking about it with a few of the boys," said England defender John Stones, according to British media.

    "It's so sad to see where they are and we hope they get out safe and sound."

    Japan's World Cup squad tweeted a video urging the team to "Hang in there!", while Brazil legend Ronaldo called their plight "terrible".

    "The world of football hopes that someone can find a way to take these kids out of there," he said, according to CNN.

    Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp urged them to "stay strong and know we are with you", in a video message sent to CNN.

  "We are following all the news and hoping every second that you see daylight again," Klopp said. "We are all very optimistic that it will happen, hopefully in minutes, hours or the next few days."

 

    Meanwhile the Croatian Football Federation said it was "awed" by the team's calm under pressure.

    "We are awed by the bravery and strength that these young boys and their coach have shown amidst such frightening circumstances," it said on its website.

    Many fans on social media said the boys deserved the World Cup trophy for the way they have handled their ordeal.//AFP

Source - TheNation

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