Thailand - FOUND ALIVE - Officials Believe 12 Boys And Coach Trapped In Cave , 23 June 2018

[JerseyGirl]

Rising waters forced rescuers to suspend the search for 12 boys and their soccer coach missing for two days in a flooded cave complex in northern Thailand, but officials said Monday they believe they’re still alive.

The boys, aged 11-15, are believed to have entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province with their 25-year-old coach late Saturday afternoon. A mother reported that her son did not return from soccer practice that day, setting off the search.

Thai officials believe 12 boys missing in cave are alive

 

[Cryptic]

Evidently member of the Thai SEAL team are assisting the search due to the need for divers. The Thai Seals are modeled after the US Navy Seals and are very well trained. Thai officers were among the first foreigners to take and pass the US selection course. If anybody can find these boys, they can.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

12 boys, soccer coach feared missing in flooded Thailand cave | CBC News

Getting deeper into the cave has required lots of oxygen and special diving skills, which would also complicate rescue efforts once the boys are found, Passakorn said. He said divers might have to first bring food in and the boys might need to wait out the flood or learn the basics of scuba to get out.

Anukoon Sorn-ek, a geographer and expert on the Tham Luang Nang Non cave, said divers have made it about three kilometres into the complex. He said the cave maintains a relatively stable temperature of about 25 C.

He said the only way to get the boys out would be for them to dive.

"But they have to be found first," he said.

 

[creepcrusher]

Praying they all make it out alive. What an adventurous story they'll live to tell if they do!

 

[Jax49]

Any word on why they went into the caves without letting families know? Or did I misread...

 

[Hazelnutty]

Oh my goodness! Thoughts & prayers for all involved.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Any word on why they went into the caves without letting families know? Or did I misread...

It appears that they where nearby in a field practicing soccer, when the group decided to explore the cave:

The boys and their coach were thought to have entered the cave complex in Chiang Rai province on Saturday afternoon. They typically train every weekend on a nearby field. But when one of the boys didn't return from soccer practice that day, his mother notified authorities and the search began. At the mouth of Tham Luang Nang Non cave, located in a verdant forest reserve that borders Myanmar, park officials found every indication that the boys and coach entered the cave but never came out: a motorcycle, 11 bicycles, backpacks, soccer shoes and sports equipment

Divers Search Flooded Cave In Thailand For 12 Missing Boys And Their Soccer Coach

 

[creepcrusher]

It appears that they where nearby in a field practicing soccer, when the group decided to explore the cave:

The boys and their coach were thought to have entered the cave complex in Chiang Rai province on Saturday afternoon. They typically train every weekend on a nearby field. But when one of the boys didn't return from soccer practice that day, his mother notified authorities and the search began. At the mouth of Tham Luang Nang Non cave, located in a verdant forest reserve that borders Myanmar, park officials found every indication that the boys and coach entered the cave but never came out: a motorcycle, 11 bicycles, backpacks, soccer shoes and sports equipment

Divers Search Flooded Cave In Thailand For 12 Missing Boys And Their Soccer Coach

And Thank God for that! If they hadn't taken all of their equipment and left it there who knows if they would've found them in time. It's relieving that they seem pretty confident that the boys are alive. It seems this isn't the first time people have been trapped in that particular cave.

 

[Amonet]

I hope they all get out okay. The picture of the bicycles outside (in the OP) is horribly poignant. They must be terrified in there, and I can't imagine how scared their families must be.

 

[Gardener1850]

The rising water frustrated efforts by the rescuers, including navy SEALs, to search farther in the cave, which is thought to be about 6-8 kilometres long and contain some large chambers.

By Monday evening, officials made the call to temporarily pull out.

"We went in a few kilometers and were able to enter a second chamber behind the entrance. In that chamber, there was an area where I saw shoes and bags left behind on the ground. We believe the students have gone further in," Lt. Naponwath Homsai, a SEAL team member, said.

Desperate search for 12 boys missing in flooded cave

 

[Gardener1850]

Divers from the Royal Thai Navy reached the cave yesterday, the Defence Minister has said.

The elite unit were able to explore as far as seven kilometres inside the flooded cave, the Bangkok Post reports.
“It's raining. The water levels in the cave are higher,” a post to the Royal Thai Navy SEAL page read.

It added that hand prints were found along the cave wall but that they had not yet located the children.

Helicopters have been sent to the area to look for other entrances to the cave.

They have dropped food and water into a tunnel residents of a nearby village say gives access to the cave, as well as handwritten notes instructing the team to wait for the rescuers.

Search for missing football team trapped in Thailand cave complicated by flood waters

 

[katydid23]

 

[Jax49]

About a dozen navy SEAL divers and other rescuers re-entered a partly flooded cave in northern Thailand on Tuesday morning to search for 12 boys and their soccer coach who've been stranded three nights in the sprawling caverns cut off by rising water.

Even though more rain fell overnight, the initial chambers inside the cave were dry. A power line was extended into the cave to provide light and ventilation and help divers communicate with those outside.

Divers re-enter Thai cave to search for 13 cut off by floods

 

[Elainera]

How could the coach be so reckless???

I hope they all stay together and none is accidentally split from the group. That would be terrifying - well it's probably already terrifying but alone even more so.

Is it dark in those caves?

In one article it was said they found bags and shoes in one of the chambers, are there ledges or something to sit/stand/lie down?

I'm trying to picture how they can survive for so long if they're in water all the time (it's been three days now right?), but maybe they're not necessarily?

ETA: just saw above that some chambers are dry, so hopefully they're camping out somewhere and waiting for rescue.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Efforts to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach hinge on pumping out water so that navy divers have headroom to operate. Navy SEAL divers leading the search are seriously handicapped by muddy water that fills some chambers of the cave to the ceiling. The divers could proceed only when enough water has been pumped out so there is breathing space between the water and the ceiling. The divers will also soon start using special oxygen tanks that provide longer diving times.

Authorities have also been seeking alternative ways in, using helicopters and search parties on foot to find holes that might exist in the ceilings of other parts of the cave.

Rain that fell overnight increased the difficulty of exploring inside the cave. However, the initial chambers near the cave's entrance are dry, and a power line was extended inside to provide light and ventilation and help the divers communicate with those outside.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...-thai-cave-to-search-for-13-cut-off-by-floods

 

[Jax49]

Missing Thai boys: Heavy rains frustrate search for teen soccer team trapped in cave - CNN

Families are nervously awaiting news of 12 missing boys and their soccer coach Tuesday as rescuers search a partially flooded cave complex in northern Thailand where the group is thought to have been trapped since the weekend.

"I feel I have just lost my heart because I just found his bag, mobile phone and his shoes. But all I can do is just wait," said Sudsakorn Sudtham, 35, whose son, Prajak, is 14.

The group, all belonging to the same soccer team from the nearby city of Chiang Rai, have been missing since 1 p.m. Saturday when a park officer spotted something amiss -- bicycles parked idly by the entrance to the cave despite it being off-limits.

 

[Trinitee]

Link to Thai NavySeals Facebook page. Updates on the search are being posted here. The page is not in english but there is a translate button.

Thai NavySEAL

 

[JerseyGirl]

Video:

 

[JerseyGirl]

Ekapol “Aek” Chanthawong is their 25-year-old coach.

Officials said it wasn’t the first time some of the soccer players had been inside the cave.
Coach Ekapol’s Facebook page is packed with photos and video of him and what appear to be members of his team practicing, cycling the area’s mountain roads and inner tubing on a river.

A post from December 2016 reads: “Special training before the competition. Tham Luang Nang Non.” Attached are 10 photos from inside the cave of boys in soccer uniforms smiling and posing for photos, lit by the beam of a flashlight.

Rescuers have found some of the boys’ belongings farther inside the cave, raising hopes that they may have fled still deeper inside to get away from the water. Even if they are found, though, officials have cautioned that getting them to safety could take time and even require the boys to learn the basics of scuba.

Missing Thai soccer team known for adventures together

 

[creepcrusher]

Ekapol “Aek” Chanthawong is their 25-year-old coach.

Officials said it wasn’t the first time some of the soccer players had been inside the cave.
Coach Ekapol’s Facebook page is packed with photos and video of him and what appear to be members of his team practicing, cycling the area’s mountain roads and inner tubing on a river.



Missing Thai soccer team known for adventures together

This is a good thing. Since they've been there before maybe they know where to go and where the safest areas are.