Thai navy Seals have found the group in the six-mile Tham Luang Nang Non cave ‘all with signs of life’ but the rescue team now face a number of challenges
Rescuers have found the 12 boys and their football coach who have been missing inside a flooded mountain cave in northern Thailand for more than a week.
“They are all safe, but the mission is not completed, local Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn said. "Our mission is to search, rescue and return, so far we just found them. Next mission is to bring them out from the cave and send them home.“
The Chiang Rai governor said experts would continue to drain the waters out of the cave while sending doctors and nurses to dive in to check the health of the boys and their coach.
“If the doctors say their physical condition is strong enough to be moved, they will take them out from the cave,” he said. “We will look after them until they can return to school.“
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The group were found near Parrya Beach, which is a chamber deep inside the Thai caves. Although currently an incredibly dangerous place during monsoon season, with flooding posing a near-constant threat, during the dry season it is a major tourist spot. However usually people are only ably to go up to around 800m deep, rather than several miles in where the missing group were located. News that the missing 13 had been found was met with celebrations across not only Thailand, but the entire world. Some families of the children held near constant vigils outside the caves, hoping to hear the boys had been found. Despite divers having made contact with the missing 13, they are still inside the Thai caves. It is currently around 4am in Thailand and it is not known how long they will have to stay down there before they can be brought to the surface. The youngest member of the football team is 11-year-old Chanin Wibrunrungrueang. The oldest of the missing people is the team's coach, Ekkapol Janthawong, who is 25 years old. Two British rescuers are believed to be the first people to speak to the children. According to reports they are Rick Stanton and John Volanthen from the British Cave Rescue Council. As the search for the missing 13 people became increasingly desperate, a group from the UK came over to help with the search. More from the video released by Thai authorities showing the missing children as they were found. "How many of you are there - 13? Brilliant," a member of the multinational rescue team, speaking in English, tells the boys. "You have been here 10 days. You are very strong." "Thank you so much," one of the boys says. The pair were flown into Thailand early last week, and found the missing children and their coach on a ledge in a cavern. It is understood that two British divers were the first to speak to the lost boys. They have been named in multiple media reports as Rick Stanton and John Volanthen Family members of the missing hugged each other as they cheered the news of the discovery of the group.
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 fried omelet, his favorite food, when he returns home. The boys have been provided with energy gel to eat, the Thai navy SEAL unit said on its official Facebook page. "Power gel and sustenance equipment has been brought ... to the team ... and we've sent people to keep them company until the transport plan can begin," it said. The first video of the boys since they were discovered has been released. "Meet the young wild boar team on the beach 200 meters away from Pattaya beach," wrote the Thai Navy SEALs on Facebook, referring to the raised mound in the cave where rescuers had expected to find the boys and their coach. "We are coming, it's ok," one of the rescuers is heard saying in the video. https://www.facebook.com/ThaiSEAL/videos/1631228493667210 Captain Jessica Tait from the U.S. Air Force's rescue support team said there were "lots of challenges" throughout the search but that the effort had brought the country together.
"When you consider it there were lots of challenges when it comes to the elements, when it comes to the elements, when it comes to different courses of actions," Tait told reporters.
"But you know what I saw, I saw Thailand coming together," she added. The British embassy in Thailand has tweeted about the team's discovery, calling it "great news". After the medics complete their evaluation of the team, they will care for the boys until they have strength to move by themselves, Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said. From there, they will "evaluate the situation on bringing them out again later'. It is not clear whether any of the team members are injured. Thailand's Navy Seals celebrate near the caves as officials announce they have found the 13-person group alive (REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun) Getting the group out of the cave - which some have dubbed a "labyrinth" - will be difficult.
Rescuers had discussed waiting until water levels subsided to get the boys out. Other options included teaching the group to use diving gear to navigate the flooded cave.
Relatives of the boys took shelter from heavy rain and were seen cheering, smiling and receiving calls after receiving the news they had been found. Rescuers shook hands and congratulated each other as occasional cheers broke out. All 12 boys and football coach found in Thailand after nine days missing But 'operation isn’t over', says governor The rescue workers have reached "Pattaya beach," a nickname they gave to an elevated mound inside the cave, according to Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn. He added that the area – where rescuers thought the team may have sought refuge – appeared to have been flooded by the rains. Medical teams have been sent inside the cave to assess the group's health before deciding how to get them out, Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said. He estimated the assessment effort would take about four hours. Thailand's prime minister has thanked international experts and rescuers who helped find the 12 boys and their soccer coach who had been missing in a cave for more than a week.
The Prime Minister's Office said Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha "wishes to thank the tremendous efforts of all international units that have come to assist the Thai authorities in rescuing the youth football team that was stuck in the caves in Chiang Rai. 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." Next
Divers from a Thai navy SEAL unit were within 500 metres of a chamber containing an elevated rock where they boys might have sought refuge.
The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach entered Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province on 23 June, when heavy rains flooded key passages of the cave and blocked the way out.
National news has been dominated by updates from the search, which involves more than 1,000 personnel, including rescue teams from Britain, the United States and elsewhere.
Progress towards a rescue was slow, as muddy water having risen to fill sections of the cave and forced the divers to withdraw for safety reasons.
When water levels dropped Sunday, divers went forward with a more methodical approach, deploying a rope line and extra oxygen supplies along the way.
Doctors have said the boys could survive for days without food, they needed to find water clean enough to drink.
In addition to the divers, teams have been working to pump out water as well as divert groundwater.
Other efforts have focused on finding shafts on the mountainside which might serve as a back door to the blocked-off areas where the missing may be sheltering.
Teams have been combing the mountainside looking for fissures which might lead to such shafts.
Several have been found and explorers have been able to descend into some, but so far it is not clear whether they lead to anywhere useful.
Additional reporting by agencies
Video
The Thai Navy has released footage of rescuers trying to reach a group of 12 boys and their football coach, who have been missing since 23 June.
The search has been hampered by low visibility and narrow tunnels.
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