The 12 boys and their football coach in Thailand who have been missing for at least nine days in caves in Thailand have been found, according to the Chiang Rai governor on Monday (Jul 2).
“Thai Navy seals have found all 13 with signs of life,” Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters, who broke into spontaneous applause and started cheering.
“We will take care of them until they can move,” he said, adding that the 13 were now being looked after.
“We will bring food to them and a doctor who can dive. I am not sure they can eat as they have not eaten for a while.”
He also said that the situation was being assessed and more rescue teams were going into the cave complex.
Divers took advantage of a brief window of good weather on Monday to edge further into the cave, with the water levels dropping slowly but steadily every hour thanks to round-the-clock pumping.
They had hoped to find the “Wild Boar” team on an elevated ledge dubbed “Pattaya beach”.
But the boys had retreated 300-400 metres further as the ledge was submerged, Narongsak added.
“About the missing of 13 persons - from the latest report from the SEAL unit who went in and passed the junction and a moment ago they managed to reach ‘Pattaya beach’. But apparently the Pattaya beach is flooded. Then they went deeper about 300 to 400 metres further. It is another high ground. We found our younger brothers are safe.”
The team’s travails are not over with a complex operation predicted to try to free the ailing group from the cave - which is still partially submerged.
The boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach disappeared on Jun 23 during an outing to the Tham Luang cave, which runs for 10km beneath the mountains in northern Chiang Rai province.
There had been no contact with the boys or coach since they entered the cave as they were hemmed in by heavy rains that blocked the entrance.
Rescuers found their bicycles, football boots and backpacks near the cave’s entrance and discovered handprints and footprints further in.
An international search effort, which included United States forces and British divers, had gone on since the group went missing inside the Tham Luang cave.
Rescuers’ round-the-clock search for the team was beset by torrential downpours that submerged tunnels near the entrance, blocking divers from going in.
The race to save the boys has dominated news bulletins, gripping the nation, and relatives of the missing children have kept up a long vigil at the mouth of the cave.
Source: Agencies/ad
