Boys, coach in stable health after 10 days lost in Thai cave

Thai authorities say they are committed to "100 percent safety" when they consider how to extract a youth soccer team from the partially flooded cave.

Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said that a navy SEAL team will make the final call on the evacuation method. He said one method being considered is for the group to be coached to swim using special breathing masks.

He said other efforts will continue, such as draining water from the cave and exploring the mountainside for shafts and other entrances to the caverns below.

Experts have said the safest option could be to supply the 12 boys and their coach where they are and wait for the water levels to drop.

The 12 boys and soccer coach found in a partially flooded cave in northern Thailand after 10 days are mostly in stable medical condition and have received high-protein liquid food, officials said Tuesday, though it is not known when they will be able to go home.

Video released early Tuesday by the Thai navy showed the boys in their soccer uniforms sitting on a dry area inside the cave above the water as a spotlight, apparently from a rescuer, illuminated their faces. The boys were found late Monday night during a desperate search that drew international help and captivated the nation.

Narongsak Osatanakorn said the health of the boys and coach were checked using a field assessment in which red is critical condition, yellow is serious and green is stable.

"We found that most of the boys are in green condition," he said. "Maybe some of the boys have injuries or light injuries and would be categorized as yellow condition. But no one is in red condition."When the group will be able to leave the cave isn't known due to flooding and other factors that could make their extraction dangerous. Experts have said it could be safer to simply supply them where they are for now. Thailand's rainy season typically lasts through October.

Family members of the missing hugged each other and cheered as they heard they had been found.

Aisha Wiboonrungrueng, the mother of 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungrueng, smiled and hugged her family as news of their discovery spread. She said she would cook her son a Thai omelet, his favorite food, when he returns home.

Rescue divers had spent much of Monday making preparations for a final push to locate the lost soccer players, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach. Flooding trapped them after they entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai on June 23.

Divers found the group about 300-400 meters (yards) past a section of the cave on higher ground that was thought to be where they might have taken shelter.

In the 5-minute navy video, the boys are quiet as they sit on their haunches, legs bent in front of them. "You are very strong," one of the rescuers says in English. Someone asks what day it is, and the rescuer responds, "Monday. Monday. You have been here — 10 days."One boy, noticing the camera and hearing unfamiliar words, says in Thai, "Oh, they want to take a picture; tell him we're hungry.?I haven't had anything to eat."Then the boy breaks into simple English, saying, "Eat, eat, eat," to which another voice responds in Thai that he already told that to the rescuer.

Narongsak said Tuesday that the missing were given high-protein liquid food, painkillers and antibiotics. He said doctors had advised giving the medicine as a preventative measure.

Anmar Mirza, a leading American cave rescue expert, said many challenges remain for the rescuers. He said the primary decision is whether to try to evacuate the boys and their coach or to supply them in place.

"Supplying them on site may face challenges depending on how difficult the dives are," Mirza, coordinator of the US National Cave Rescue Commission, said in an email. "Trying to take non-divers through a cave is one of the most dangerous situations possible, even if the dives are relatively easy. That also begets the question: If the dives are difficult then supply will be difficult, but the risk of trying to dive them out is also exponentially greater."Narongsak said officials had met and agreed on the need to "ensure 100 percent safety for the boys when we bring them out.""We worked so hard to find them and we will not lose them," he said.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha thanked the international experts and rescuers who helped locate the missing for their "tremendous efforts.""The Royal Thai Government and the Thai people are grateful for this support and cooperation, and we all wish the team a safe and speedy recovery," Prayuth's office said in a statement.

The rescuers had been stymied repeatedly by rising water that forced divers to withdraw for safety reasons. When water levels fell Sunday, the divers went forward with a more methodical approach, deploying a rope line and extra oxygen supplies along the way.

Teams have also been working to pump water out of the cave and divert groundwater, while other rescuers focused on exploring shafts above ground that might lead into the cave. Several fissures were found and teams have explored some, though none led to the missing group.

Experts in cave rescues from around the world had gathered at the site. An official Australian group has followed a US military team, British cave experts, Chinese lifesaving responders and several other volunteer groups from various countries.

"These are challenging conditions and there's a lot of consideration for safety as well as, the environment outside is contributing to the environment inside," said US Air Force Capt. Jessica Tait, part of a 30-member US military team assisting in the search, referring to the rain that has been flooding the cave. "So I'd say, yeah, it's an accurate statement that it's challenging."

Here's a look at the options and why extracting the 12 boys and man could take some time.

The cave is huge

Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province stretches under a mountainside for up to 10 kilometers (6 miles), much of it a string of narrow passageways that lead to wide chambers and then back to narrow passageways. The rocky and muddy ground makes several changes in elevation along the way.

The British Cave Rescue Council, which has members taking part in the operation, estimates the boys are around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) into the cave and somewhere between 800 meters (half a mile) to 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) below the surface. Other estimates put the boys as far as 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) into the cave.

The cave is flooded

Finding the boys took more than nine days, partly because of how difficult it is to move around the cave. The cave floods during Thailand's rainy season and even elite Thai navy SEAL divers were finding it difficult to move through the muddy waters, currents and tight passageways.

Supplying them in place

This is possibly the safest option. It would involve bringing food and other supplies to the boys and waiting for water levels to drop, naturally or by pumping out water, or until rescuers can find or create another exit. This could take anywhere from days to weeks to even months as the rainy season typically lasts through October.

The Thai navy is already doing this short-term, sending teams with high-protein liquid food to feed the boys, keep them company and explore the cave infrastructure where they are to ensure it is safe. The navy said medics will be sent to help and improve conditions in the cave.

The danger of staying put

More monsoon rains are on the way. After a break in the weather in recent days, the Thai Meteorological Department forecast for Chiang Rai calls for light rain through Friday followed by heavy rain starting Saturday and continuing through July 10. Such storms could raise water levels in the cave again and complicate the supply missions or any potential extrication, if one was needed.

Creating another entrance

Along with the search efforts inside the cave, rescuers have searched on the mountainside for possible ways into the caverns below. Authorities said those efforts will continue. Backhoes and drilling equipment were sent to the mountain, but creating a shaft large enough to extract the boys would be extremely complicated and could take a long time. The British Cave Rescue Council said the boys are "located in a relatively small space and this would make any potential drilling attempt as a means of rescue very difficult."

Diving them out

Diving would be the fastest, but arguably most dangerous, extraction method. Mirza said, "trying to take non-divers through cave is one of the most dangerous situations possible, even if the dives are relatively easy." By all accounts, the dives into the cave have been a challenge.

Experts in caving and diving needed days to reach the boys. Getting the boys out could go faster due to the installation of dive lines, extra oxygen tanks left along the way and glow sticks lighting the path. Still the British Cave Rescue Council said: "Any attempt to dive the boys and their coach out will not be taken lightly because there are significant technical challenges and risks to consider."

AP