Four boys emerge from Thailand cave as perilous rescue effort continues

Thomas Maresca Special to USA TODAY

Published 1:30 p.m. UTC Jul 8, 2018

MAE SAI, Thailand — The first four members of a youth soccer team trapped in a cave here for more than two weeks have emerged after long hours of complex, perilous transit through a treacherous, twisting and partially flooded network of tunnels stretching more than two miles into earth.

Thai navy SEALs announced the extractions but did not reveal the condition of the boys. Plans called for the 12 players and their coach to be placed in ambulances and given medical assessments before being shuttled to a local hospital via helicopters.

The boys judged to be in the best condition were expected to be extracted first.

“Today is D-Day,” Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters earlier in the day. Thirteen foreign divers and five Thai divers were taking part in the operation, the governor said.

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He said the precarious journey to freedom could take 10-12 hours for each boy, and that extracting all 12 boys and their coach could take days. Each boy will be escorted by two divers, and will come out one at a time, officials said.

“We’re ready for the operation today,” said Narongsak, who said the weather and the water levels in the cave are good. “The boys are healthy, aware and ready to come out.”

An Australian doctor with cave diving experience examined the boys on Sunday and declared them fit for the operation, authorities said.

Water levels inside the massive Tham Luang cave complex in northern Chiang Rai province dropped by around a foot on Saturday and are at their lowest levels since the team became trapped June 23. Rescuers are able to walk deep into the cave, all the way to the “third chamber,” which is around one mile away from where the boys are located.

Officials wouldn’t say how much diving the boys would be required to do in the rescue operation.

It is also unclear how long the entire operation will take. Narongsak said that there was no time limit on the rescue and that its progress would depend on weather and conditions inside the cave, but expected it to last through Monday.

“If something changes, we’ll stop,” he said. “But I expect the operation to finish within the next couple of days.

Early on Sunday morning, all media and non-essential staff were cleared from the cave site area as divers, medics and military began moving into place.

Dark clouds and fog shrouded the area around the cave as a steady rain began falling in the early afternoon. Thunderstorms are forecast to start later on Sunday and are expected to continue through Monday as Thailand’s monsoon season gets underway.

The boys sounded calm and reassuring in handwritten notes to their families that were transported by divers and made public Saturday.

One of the boys, identified as Tun, wrote: “Mom and Dad, please don’t worry, I am fine. I’ve told Yod to get ready to take me out for fried chicken. With love.”

Residents of the nearby town of Mae Sai, located directly on the border with Myanmar around seven miles away from the cave entrance, have been following the saga of the boys’ disappearance and rescue efforts intently.

“We are talking about it all the time,” said Napattra Chokumpompan, 21, who works at a hotel in Mae Si.

“I watch the news on my phone, my mom is watching on TV,” said Chokumpompan, who graduated from the same school that six of the boys currently attend, Mae Si Prasitsart School.

“They are all of our students, all of our friends, all of our children,” she said.

Poonsak Sripiromrak, who runs a shop selling gems, jewelry and religious statues in Mae Si, said the story has kept everyone in town on edge for the more than two weeks since the boys first went missing.

“We are worried every day,” she said. “We hope they are coming out today.”

Contributing: John Bacon; The Associated Press

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