Thailand cave rescue: Soccer players, coach found alive

[conniption]

https://www.rt.com/news/431554-thailand ... -children/

Football team missing for 9 days found trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand
Published time: 3 Jul, 2018

https://www.rt.com/news/431554-thailand ... -children/


A family member looks at a photo of trapped under-16 football team and their coach near Tham Luang cave complex, Thailand © Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

As the FIFA World Cup yielded many apparent divine interventions, a real-world miracle has happened in Thailand, when all players in a children's squad and their coach, who had spent nine days in a flooded cave, were found alive.

The sudden and almost traceless disappearance of the Wild Boar football team in northern Thailand on June 23 had kept the whole island nation on its toes for nine days, with parents and those who were glued to TV updates fearing the worst.

However, after more than a week of no news and fading hopes, two British divers, part of an international team of rescuers involved in the effort, reached the so-called Pattaya Beach deep-water cave, where the boys and their mentor were holing up, on Monday.

The Thai Navy SEALs, who have been leading the large-scale search and rescue operation, posted a heartwarming video on its FB page, showing the moment the British divers first saw the frail-looking boys, crammed on a narrow ledge in complete darkness.

"How many of you?" one of the rescuers said in English. As the cave's prisoners respond that all 13 of them were there, the rescue is seen exclaiming: "Thirteen? Brilliant!" As the boys are thanking their finders, the divers had to upset them, revealing that their ordeal is not yet over.

"We are coming, it's OK, many people are coming ... we are the first," the diver says.

With the whole country and especially the boys' relatives breathing a sigh of relief after days of suspense, the most challenging work has now begun.

It is as-yet unclear whether the rescuers will wait till the water goes down, which is difficult to predict as heavy rains –that are set to continue– are hampering efforts to pump out water from around the refuge. In case it proves impossible for the moment, the rescuers may try to teach the boys how to dive so they can leave the cave by themselves, according to Capt. Akanand Surawan from the Royal Navy.

A nurse and a doctor have been sent to the cave, accompanied by divers, while several divers stay with the boys to oversee them and keep their spirits up.

Apart from providing the stranded footballers with much-needed food supplies, survival kits and medical assistance, the authorities will also be pumping fresh air into the cave, so the boys can breathe easily.

The drama which has been gripping the locals has also caught the attention of the world, sparking an international effort that saw such big-name nations as the UK, China, the US and Australia offering their contributions.

The boys, all aged between 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach got trapped by accident, when they decided to explore the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system, popular with tourists. However, the heavy rainfall cut them off. Late last week, rescuers managed to find another entrance to the system, a narrow hole some 1.5 meters in diameter and over 22 meters (72 feet) deep, that was leading to the opening of the cave. The lucky discovery deep in the jungle made the rescue possible. When the rescuers first reached the cave system, it was flooded, and they had to go another 300 to 400 meters before they spotted the stranded boys.

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Thailand cave rescue: Soccer players, coach found alive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMCwWsUj7pc
CBC News: The National
Published on Jul 2, 2018

[Elvis]

[Iamwhomiam]

Great news to learn that all 13 were safe after having been trapped in the flooded cave for nine days, but their true rescue and final exit from the cave may yet be months away, as the divers left them with food supply for four months. Let's hope the rains abate and allow their safe escape at the earliest opportunity possible.

[82_28]

Soccer team may need to learn to scuba dive to escape

Chiang Rai, Thailand (CNN)The initial relief that greeted the dramatic discovery of the trapped Thai soccer team has given way to questions over why the boys are still inside the flooded cave network and not on their way to the surface and their waiting families.

Part of the concern about attempting to bring the boys out of the cramped, pitch-black chamber where they have spent the better part of nine days is that they are around two kilometers (1.2 miles) inside the cave, and nearly a kilometer below the surface, according to rescuers.

The boys, who were found alive by British divers in the early hours of Monday morning, are now being tended to by seven Thai Navy Seals, including a doctor and nurse, Thai Navy Seal Chief Rear Adm. Aphakorn Yoo-kongkaew told reporters at a news conference late Tuesday.

"Now we have given food to the boys, starting with food that is easy to digest and provides high energy," he said. "We have taken care of those boys following the doctor's recommendation. So do not worry, we will take care of them with our best. We will bring all of them with safety. We are now planning how to do so."

The children were being given access to telephone lines to be able to reach their families, but the focus, said Yoo-kongkaew, was on building their strength so they can attempt the journey out.

"We don't have to rush. We are trying to take care of them and make them strong. Then the boys will come out to see you guys," he said.

However, options for the rescuers working in and around the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system in northern Thailand are limited.

The area in which the group remains stranded is accessible only via a narrow, flooded channel, and attempts to pump water from the cave, or find a natural opening in the roof of the chamber, have so far been unsuccessful.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/03/asia/tha ... index.html

[Iamwhomiam]

One of the divers, a Brit, said they would need to travel 1500m underwater using the (shared?) scuba gear though other flooded areas have air pockets. If the rains fall heavily, as they will, the torrent of water rushing through the cave would make rescue most dangerous to attempt.

But it was really wonderful news to learn no one was drowned and all are physically well. As for their mental state, being quite young and having contemplated their death, believing they'd never again see their loved ones, they'll probably need some counseling. I would!

[Pele'sDaughter]

http://www.smobserved.com/story/2018/07 ... /3525.html

Elon Musk has offered on Instagram, to use the Boring Company's equipment to help drill another entrance into the cave system in Northern Thailand. The boys are trapped 1000 meters underground and 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the entrance to the cave. The passageway to the surface is almost entirely submerged by running water. The 13 boys aged 11 to 13, and their soccer coach, entered the Tham Luang cave system on June 23rd, and were surprised by early rains.

Rescuers found them on July 2, but there is no easy way to bring them through the passageways, which are challenging even for professional divers. The boys do not even know how to swim.
[....]

[Jerky]

A rescuer, a Thai Navy SEAL, has died while setting up spare oxygen tanks along the planned escape route.

This has prompted observers to wonder "if a Navy SEAL died on this route, what chance to kids who barely know how to swim have?!"

Maybe Musk's offer should be looked into.

J.

[Pele'sDaughter]

Cave diving is among the most dangerous endeavors and the thought of trying to "swim" them out is just horrifying to consider. Surely, they won't wait 4 to 5 months for the rainy season to end either. That may turn out to be the only option in the end though, but ffs give Musk a shot at it. A lot could go wrong, medical emergencies, etc. if they try to wait it out.

[82_28]

Musk's offer is the most viable from my amateur position on such things. Not only would it be obviously great for the kids, but would advance engineering knowledge in leaps. But on the off hand, Musk then becomes kind of a god which I don't particularly feel like having to deal with.

[Pele'sDaughter]

Just a little bit of new information.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/05/asia/tha ... index.html

A medical assessment of the 12 boys and their football coach stuck in a cave in Northern Thailand concluded that it was too dangerous to try to move the group out Thursday, according to a member of the Thai Navy SEALs who is not authorized to speak to the media.

The SEALs have started to pump oxygen into the chamber.

Separately, a new doctor's report highlighted that two of the boys and the coach were suffering with exhaustion from malnutrition.
[....]
Rescuers entering the cave complex located in northern Thailand have to navigate dark, flooded tunnels for six hours to reach the team. It takes another five hours to return to the entrance.

The boys remain weak after spending days in the darkness, barely moving from the small, muddy ledge, away from the water.

While rescuers are trying to pump enough water out of the cave to allow the boys to simply walk out, Thai Navy SEALs are also teaching them how to scuba dive.
The boys would need to wear full-face diving masks to enter the narrow tunnels in moving water, though many experts say this would be a dangerous option for novice divers.

In an attempt to maintain the boys' morale, rescue teams have prioritized installing a line of communication between the boys and their parents.

However, they were still attempting to connect them Thursday after earlier efforts failed when the line became damaged after falling into water. CNN saw an old-style military phone and loops of cable being carried into the cave by engineers.

As divers work in tunnels deep below ground, teams are also scouring the hillside above the caves, looking for possible entry points to the chamber where the boys are sheltering.

"We are drawing our jungle trekking resources together. There are about 20 to 30 teams," Osottanakorn said.

"Now we are going to walk around that area to search every inch, (to see if) there are chimneys or holes where we can climb down, and we may adjust our plan."

The teams searching for another route through a natural chimney were dispatched following reports that the boys had told divers they heard dogs barking, a rooster crowing and children playing, possibly indicating a shaft leading up to the surface.

"There has been reports that kids have heard sounds from chickens and birds," Ben Reymenants, a Belgian who owns a diving shop in Thailand and has been assisting with the rescue efforts, told CNN.

"Were those hallucinations or did they really hear it? Because that would mean there is livestock nearby or at least a forest which would make an alternative entrance possible."

Osottanakorn said that teams on the surface were no longer drilling into the rock to create new shafts, but are focusing efforts on finding existing chimneys.

"We are no longer digging -- we will find a way that can give us access (without digging) direct to the area where the boys are," he said.
[....]

[conniption]

RT

Operation to rescue stranded Thai football team from flooded cave begins (WATCH LIVE)
Published time: 8 Jul, 2018

https://www.rt.com/news/432300-thailand ... ion-start/

[82_28]

Yah, it has begun. The whole schematics of the thing is chilling. Watching CNN now. But I have a question. What possessed them to go THAT DEEP into the cave in the first place? I'm not suggesting anything nefarious, but I have gone into caves (mines in Colorado) where I just turned around when the sunlight completely disappeared (light at the end of the tunnel) because I didn't have enough faith in my flashlight. But to go more than a mile into it? Is there an entrance and an exit? Like, is there a known route through this cave that you can go in and come out the other side?

But goddamn, good luck to all involved.

[Cordelia]

What possessed them to go THAT DEEP into the cave in the first place?

The cave system’s notoriety has seen it become a magnet for teen adventurers. According to locals, boys regularly explore the cave system for entertainment.

A Dutch diver assisting with the rescue said the 12 boys were led into the caves by their soccer coach as part of an initiation ritual where they inscribe their names on one of the rock faces.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real- ... cd2c0bdf75

[82_28]

When they hopefully survive, they most definitely have inscribed their names in history. Well done. But they and their rescuers have to survive first. We're one rescuer down. RIP. God, what a shitshow.

[82_28]

I know I had an active imagination at that age back then and talked to everybody. What do you guys think the kids have been talking about all this time? It will be fascinating to "find out".