Thailand cave rescue: All 12 boys, coach freed, latest updates

THE Tham Luang cave has delivered its miracle, with all 13 members of the Wild Boar soccer team making it to safety in one of the most inspiring rescue missions the world has witnessed.

The Royal Thai Navy SEALS have confirmed all 12 boys and their coach have successfully swum through flooded passages and are now either out of the cave system.

The three Navy SEALs and Australian anaesthetist, Richard Harris, have also emerged from the caves.

“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” the Thai Navy SEALs said, referring to the name of the boys’ soccer team. “Everyone is safe.”

It comes FIFA reiterated their invitation for the team to attend this Sunday's soccer World Cup final, and famous clubs like England’s Manchester United sent messages of congratulations.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected. We would love to welcome the team from Wild Boars Football Club and their rescuers to Old Trafford this coming season.” Manchester United is very popular in Thailand, with 135,000 “friends” on the local fan club’s Facebook page.

media_camera A Thai military police salutes an ambulance leaving from the Tham Luang cave area.

It is understood Dr Harris administered a mild sedative to all of the boys prior to departing the ledge where they have been trapped, in order to eliminate any fear during the swim.

The Australian medic, who spent the last three days with the boys making sure they were fit to travel, made his way out of the cave along with three Thai SEALs, all travelling under their own steam.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha confirmed that the boys had been given medicine “so the children won’t panic, just like we take anti-allergy so we feel OK and are not excited”.

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media_camera Rescuers walk toward the entrance to the cave complex where five Thai soccer team members are still trapped. Picture: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

media_camera This photo tweeted by billionaire Elon Musk, who contributed to the rescue effort, shows the inside of the flooded cave.

It is believed the boys wore wetsuits and full-face masks, meaning they did not need to make any effort breathing as they were swum through flooded chambers.

media_camera Australian doctor Richard Harri sadministered a mild sedative to all of the boys prior to departing the ledge in order to eliminate any fear during the swim.

Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn earlier said that 19 divers were in the cave, ahead of schedule, preparing for the final extraction in what has been a mission of remarkable precision and international teamwork.

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Narongsak, whose daily updates have transformed him from a provincial northern Thailand governor into an international presence as people hang on his every word, said he had relied on the judgment of the diving team that they could bring out the five, rather than the four he had predicted.

“We hope that today we can bring the four, plus one,” he said earlier.

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Two of the eight who came out in sets of four on Sunday and Monday were diagnosed with mild pneumonia at Chiang Rai hospital, 60km south of the Tham Luang cave system. He said they had been treated with intravenous drips and were responding well.

“We expected them all to have pneumonia, and came up with preventive measures, but most of them haven’t got pneumonia,” he said.

media_camera The 12 boys and their coach had been trapped in the cave since June 23.

The governor said the last day of the operation was moving even faster than the previous two days, with evacuation times sharply as the core diving team became better familiarised with negotiating the dangerous route.

It appears they have left the strongest team members till last, including coach Ekkapon Chantawongse.

What days ago was a five-hour journey in blackness, through flooded chambers and a risky choke-point tunnel, has been cut down to only three hours.

media_camera Rescue chief Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn speaks to reporters. Picture: Getty Images

media_camera Ambulances transport some of the boys rescued from Tham Luang Nang Non cave from a helipad to hospital.

It is understood that the boys were rested and given initial medical attention for several hours at Chamber 3, where the rescuers set up their underground staging camp, before being assisted out of the cave.

Narongsak said that although there had been heavy overnight rain, water levels were holding stable, meaning they were able to speed up the operation of positioning oxygen tanks along the route, and re-tensioning the safety line.

“The team completed their set-up for the mission faster than expected and it got underway at 10am,” he said.

media_camera A helicopter believed to be carrying one of the boys rescued from the flooded cave lands in Chiang Rai.

Narongsak added that along with the boys and the coach, a doctor and three Thai SEALs who are understood to have been close at the team’s side for days would be coming out.

He was presumably referring to Richard Harris, who has been with the team on the ledge monitoring their fitness to dive.

The governor said of billionaire engineer and futurist, Elon Musk, who arrived in the cave sometime in the early hours of Tuesday with a miniature submarine: “Elon Musk’s equipment is not practical.”

media_camera An ambulance transporting some of the boys pproaches the hospital in the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai.

The eight rescued boys have been treated for passing fevers, coughing, light wounds and general weakness, with medical experts satisfied the boys have made it through their ordeal largely unscathed.

Families have been able to speak to the quarantined boys behind a glass partition at Chiang Rai hospital, where they will remain for up to seven days until they are given the complete all-clear.

“Because the kids are still young, they are very resilient. They can talk normally, everybody is joyful and very glad to come out,” said Dr Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk from the Public Health Ministry.

The expert said the boys had suffered from exposure to water and cold over their long stay underground, but were in surprisingly good condition.

“They’re hungry a lot and want to eat a variety of food, but at this stage we’re given food that is easily digested and bland. They can sit up and eat, but there are no worrying conditions.

“They asked for bread with chocolate, which we think is OK.”

The boys have told the rescuers that there were no animals such as bats in the cave so the medical experts feel certain there is no biological cross-contamination.

“We have to wait for microbiological results from the lab,” said Dr Jedsada. “They’re immune systems are weakened so it’s best they stay in hospital.”

The doctor said the boys will be able to watch the World Cup in quarantine — but as to news about their rescue, the psychologists don’t want them to watch any coverage until the team was fully reunited in hospital.

Students fixated on the gripping rescue mission refrained from playing soccer while the rescue mission was under way.

The Bangkok Post reported emotional students have not been down to the Mae Sai Football Club, instead praying for the safe return of their classmates.

Fourteen-year-old Puwadech “Bank” Kumngoen and Kittichoke “Tong” Konkaew said no one had felt like practising since the 12 boys vanished, according to the Bangkok Post.

“Of course I want to play. I want to race down the pitch as soon as I can,” Pwadech told the Bangkok Post.

“This is World Cup time and I’ve been studying my favourite players to learn their techniques.

“But I’m going to wait because I want to try those tricks on a real pitch with my friends.”

media_camera Thai schoolchildren with their teachers pray for their missing classmates from the grounds of Mae Sai Prasitsart School. Picture: AFP

Kittichoke said he hoped to watch the World Cup final with the 12 boys, and that waiting for updates during their time trapped in the Tham Luang cave had been a draining experience.

Puwadech said he was ecstatic when he heard the first four boys were alive and well after being rescued from the waterlogged cave.

“I ran down from upstairs and jumped when the operation commander announced on TV that four of my friends had made it out safely. My whole family was so happy and we believe everyone will be okay,” Puwadech told the Bangkok Post.

The eight rescued boys have been examined by teams of GPs, nutritionists, ophthalmologists and psychologists and declared healthy and well.

Apart from signs of mild pneumonia, which is being treated, some passing fevers, coughing, light wounds and general weakness, medical experts are satisfied the boys have made it through their ordeal unscathed.

media_camera Another student leaves the ambulance to be taken to the helicopter on a stretcher bound for Chiang Rai hospital. Picture: Dan Charity/The Sun

“They’re hungry a lot and want to eat a variety of food, but at this stage we’re giving food that is easily digested and bland. They can sit up and eat, but there are no worrying conditions.

The eight have been swabbed with samples sent to Bangkok.

The doctor said the boys will be able to watch the final stages of the World Cup in quarantine — but as to news about their rescue, the psychologists don’t want them to see the coverage until the final five are safely above ground.

media_camera Thai police and military personnel use umbrellas to shield the fifth boy as he is evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Chiang Rai. Picture: AFP

media_camera Thai soldiers arrive on military truck at the Tham Luang cave as rescue operations continue. Picture: AFP

media_camera Ambulance workers, seen through a screen, were on hand to treat the rescued boys. Picture: AFP

The second group of boys, rescued on Monday, took two hours less to extract from the cave than the four boys who were rescued on Sunday.

Governor Osotthanakorn attributed this to international teamwork, particularly the better organisation stocking the perilous dive route with hundreds of replenished air tanks.

All boys were flown 60km south of the rescue scene to Chiang Rai hospital, where they will be quarantined for seven days and examined for waterborne diseases and observed for their mental wellbeing.

It is understood the parents are not yet able to have physical contact with the kids, but are able to communicate with them through a partition.

“The children are in good condition,” Gov. Osotthanakorn said. “They are eating a soft meal, like porridge.”

The team leaders appeared upbeat, with Major-General Churat Parn-Ngao joking: “I asked the gods that it not rain for three days and we got it. So, we’ll ask for another three days.”

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visited the scene and thanked the rescue team, including Thai and foreign divers who told him they were proud to be involved.

media_camera Police cordon off the area to prevent press from entering the main road leading to Tham Luang Nang Non cave. Picture: Getty Images

The main issue facing rescuers — apart from extreme low visibility and the dual issue of oxygen depletion and carbon monoxide overload in the cave’s chambers — was a dangerous a choke point about 1km from where the remaining boys are trapped on a muddy ledge.

It required divers to lead the boys down a narrow tunnel, at points only 70cm wide, then crawl up above the water level, then down another tunnel once again into a deep pool.

media_camera Thai soldiers walk out from the Tham Luang cave area as operations continue. Picture: AFP

media_camera Thai Navy divers in Tham Long cave during rescue operations for the 12 boys and their coach trapped in the cave. Picture: AFP

But it appears the rescue team, involving 50 foreign and 40 Thai divers, mastered this obstacle.

Asked if the Australian anaesthetist and diver, Richard Harris, has been helping assess the boys, Gov. Osotthanakorn earlier said: “Every day.”

media_camera A Thai military helicopter flies over the Tham Luang cave area. Picture: AFP

The Tham Luang cave network has, until now, been little understood by speleogists, who are fast getting a lesson on the 10km system’s twists and turns.

The professional divers led the boys out in pairs, with two divers escorting each boy and holding his tank to make his journey easier. Each boy is understood have worn a wetsuit throughout the journey.

Each boy was stretchered out of the cave mouth as a precaution before being sent to hospital.

media_camera Eight of the boys are now free with just four plus their soccer coach still inside the cave. Picture: AFP

Military and medics were gathered by a helicopter staging pad close to the cave entrance to airlift the boys on the short 60-kilometre hop to Chiang Rai hospital. The first chopper, carrying the fifth boy, departed just after 5pm local time (8pm AEST).

Photos of the isolation unit have emerged, as parents sleep at the rescue site and continue their nervous wait to be reunited with their boys.

media_camera An ambulance exits from the Tham Luang cave area as operations continue for the 8 boys and their coach trapped at the cave. Picture: AFP

Gov. Osotthanakorn told reporters the rescue mission on Monday was five hours ahead of schedule due to the low water levels.

“We will receive good news in a few hours,” he said.

The rescued boys will not be allowed physical contact with their parents until the risk of infection has gone, he said.

“They will be kept away from their parents for a while because we are concerned about infections,” he told reporters, adding doctors will decide on family visits “at a distance or through glass.”

Australians have been directly involved in both rescues, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop confirmed this morning.

She also said Adelaide doctor Richard “Harry” Harris was playing a “critical” role in determining whether the remaining four boys and their soccer coach were fit to make the 1.7km dive to the surface.

“It’s wonderful news that we now have eight boys from the cave but five still remain,” she told reporters at Parliament House.

“It is a high risk operation but I understand that this last phase was able to be achieved far more quickly than the first phase because of changing conditions and also the efficiency of the rescue team.

“There are still 19 Australian personnel directly involved including Dr Richard Harris who is playing a critical role in the health assessment of the remaining boys and the soccer coach in the cave.”

media_camera An ambulance carrying the sixth and seventh boys leaves the area. Picture: Getty Images

The Minister highlighted that Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had visited the site last night and specifically thanked the Australian personnel involved in the rescue.

“He expressed the deep appreciation of the Thai people for the work that the Australian team had undertaken,” she said.

“We wish all of the rescue teams the very best and our thoughts are with the boys, their parents and families and the rescue teams that are working tirelessly to achieve what will be a remarkable outcome if all of the boys are able to be rescued from the cave safely.”