A nation wept tears of joy last night as it discovered that all 12 members of a teen soccer team and their young coach had been found alive in the cave where floodwaters trapped them 10 days ago — now comes the hard part.
Getting the young men out will mean retracing the same underwater route it took expert divers days to navigate, a harsh reality driven home in a morning press conference by Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn.
Speaking to reporters, Narongsak said preparations are being made for what will likely be a lengthy operation.
“We have to make sure it is 100 percent safe to bring them out. For example, if the water level is still high, we’ll have to train the children how to swim and put special [diving] masks on them. The people who will estimate the situation are the SEALs,” Narongsak said.
That cautiousness was born out by navy officials, who seem resigned to the fact that extraction is likely to be a drawn-out process.
“(We will) prepare to send additional food to be sustained for at least four months and train all 13 to dive while continuing to drain the water,” Navy Captain Anand Surawan said, according to a statement from Thailand’s Armed Forces.
The 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, were discovered with their 25-year-old coach late last night, rake thin but alive, huddled on a ledge deep inside a flooded, pitch black cave, where they became trapped by rising floodwaters.
At this morning’s press conference, Governor Narongsak said that none of the boys appeared seriously injured and that SEALs had supplied them with a high-calorie energy gel and paracetamol.
“We will divide the boys into 3 categories: red, yellow, and green. Red is critical, yellow is slightly injured, and green means they’re OK. Last night, in an unofficial assessment, most of them are in the green category. I ensure that none of them is in the red zone,” he said.
Meanwhile, efforts to drain the cave and to find other potential avenues to access their location continue.
“We won’t call off the mission … until we’re certain we can get them out via the entrance,” Narongsak said.
The miracle rescue sparked jubilation across the country last night after a grueling operation beset by heavy downpours and fast-moving flooding floods.
The boys were found late Monday by British divers, with footage showing them emaciated and huddled on a mud mound deep inside the cave. You can watch the video here.
With additional reporting from AFP.
