Rescue operation for footballers trapped in Thai cave resumes after 4 saved

CHIANG RAI, Thailand -- Divers on Monday morning went into the cave in northern Thailand's Chiang Rai to extract the second batch of boys after the first four have been successfully rescued, officials said.

The operation resumed at about 11 am local time, according to officials overseeing the rescue mission at a press briefing.

"The factors are as good as yesterday. Hopefully we will have good news in a few hours. The rescue team is the same team with a few replacements," said Narongsak Osatanakorn, the head of the joint command centre coordinating the operation.

Torrential rains hit the Chiang Rai Sunday night. Narongsak said the rain did not affect water levels inside the cave.

The perilous bid to rescue the boys, aged between 11 and 16, resumed after a break on Sunday night to replenish oxygen supplies and make other preparations deep inside the cave complex.

The four boys rescued from the cave on Sunday night have been declared in "good overall health" though they are waiting for the results of tests. All four boys are being treated at a hospital in Chiang Rai, the nearest major city.

Some 13 foreign divers and five Thai Navy rescuers entered the cave to carry out the operation. The boys were dived out from the toughest part of the cave.

The operation proceeded much faster than expected due to the walkable water level in the cave after it was launched at 10 am local time on Sunday.

The 12 boys and their coach went missing in the cave that was flooded since June 23. They were found when the search, joined by more than 1,000 international rescuers, entered the ninth day.