Thai boys, coach receive food, treatment inside cave

Authorities in Thailand have vowed to take a “no risk” approach to freeing 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been stuck in a flooded cave for at least 10 days, while soldiers hold an evacuation drill to be prepared for the rescue mission.

A fresh video has emerged from inside the cave, showing the boys and their coach being treated by a navy doctor and a nurse who managed to enter the cave along with seven members of the Thai Navy SEAL on Tuesday.

The boys and their coach were found alive by British divers on Monday, after nine days of being trapped deep inside the flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave in the north of the country.

The boys, aged 11and 16, are seen in the video being wrapped with hypothermia blankets, while being treated for minor injuries. One of the boys can be heard saying, “I’m hungry.”

A Thai official said food, medicine, and relief gear continues to be ferried into the cave complex, while rescuers are considering extraction plans.

The 25-year-old coach, who went with the boys down the cave after soccer training on June 23, is also seen in the video.

Narongsak Osottanakorn, Chiang Rai’s provincial governor, told reporters on Wednesday ,“We have to be 100 percent confident that there is no risk to the boys before we evacuate.”

“We will take care of them like they are our own children,” he added.

Thailand’s junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha said later in the day, “We want to evacuate all 13 people as soon as possible but I don’t want to specify day and date.”

Officials said the first step was to assess the boys physically and mentally. Evacuation would be conducted only after that.

They explained that they were considering three options: having the 13 people dive out of the cave system, having them exit through another hole if one can be found or drilled, or waiting out the rainy season underground.

The first option, which is thought to be the only viable one, is according to experts laden with risks, as none of the boys have ever dived before and some do not even know how to swim.

Experts say even if the boys are taught diving and are escorted out of the cave system by rescue divers, the mission is still risky as areas of the cave remain submerged and navigating claustrophobic passages in murky rushing waters risks causing panic in the minors.

“This requires them to be psychologically able to cope with being underwater... and the dives being not too long or difficult,” AFP quoted expert Alan Warild as saying.

The last option, which is to wait for the monsoon to abate, could also be protracted as the monsoon has just begun.

Officials, however, assured that food, medicine, and equipment would be available for at least four months at an underground base. The navy divers also vowed to stay underground with them along with the medics.

In the meantime, rescue teams are pumping out water round-the-clock from the cave. They have been trying to drain the underground tunnels for several days.

At one point, they were removing an estimated 1.6 million liters of water an hour. Continuous heavy rains, however, have frustrated attempts to clear the passageways.

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