At least four boys rescued from Thai cave - medical team

Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand's elite navy SEAL unit are trying to bring the rest of the boys through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai navy diver on Friday.

In this handout photo taken and released by Chiang Rai Public Relations Office on July 8, 2018 shows Thai soldiers and paramedics assist a rescued boy on a stretcher to an ambulance in Tham Luang cave area after divers evacuated some of the 12 boys and their coach trapped in the cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district on July 8, 2018.
AFP

In this handout photo taken and released by Chiang Rai Public Relations Office on July 8, 2018 shows Thai soldiers and paramedics assist a rescued boy on a stretcher to an ambulance in Tham Luang cave area after divers evacuated some of the 12 boys and their coach trapped in the cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district on July 8, 2018.

At least four of 12 schoolboys have been rescued so far from a flooded Thai cave after divers launched a daring and dangerous mission to free the children and their football coach, who were trapped underground for more than two weeks, Thai officials said.

Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand's elite navy SEAL unit are trying to bring the rest of the boys - some as young as 11 and weak swimmers – through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai navy diver on Friday.

A helicopter flew some of the boys to the nearby city of Chiang Rai where they were taken by ambulance to hospital.

TRT World's John Joe Regan has more.

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Dangerous operation

Their ordeal has drawn huge media attention in Thailand and abroad.

"Today is D-Day," Narongsak Osottanakorn, head of the rescue mission, had earlier told reporters.

Bursts of heavy monsoon rain soaked the Tham Luang Cave area in northern Chiang Rai province on Sunday and storms were expected in the coming weeks, increasing the risks in what has been called a "war with water and time" to save the team.

The boys, aged between 11 and 16, went missing with their 25-year-old coach after football practice on June 23, setting out on an adventure to explore the cave complex near the border with Myanmar and celebrate a boy's birthday.

TRT World spoke with Andy Eavis, the former head of British Caving Association.

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Rescuing them all could take three to four days and depended on the weather, an army commander involved in the mission had said earlier.

The rescue teams had rehearsed the plan for several days, Narongsak said, and had managed to drain the water level in the cave considerably, but needed to move fast.

"If we wait and the rain comes in the next few days we will be tired again from pumping and our readiness would drop. If that's the case, then we have to reassess the situation," he said.

An Australian doctor who is part of the rescue mission checked the health of the boys on Saturday night and gave the all-clear for the operation to proceed.

The boys were discovered by British divers Richard Stanton and John Volanthen on Monday.

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Posted by Thai NavySEAL on Saturday, July 7, 2018

Dark and tight passageways

Of the 13-strong foreign dive team - mainly from Europe - three were escorting the children, while the remainder were positioned along the dangerous first kilometre stretch, where the boys will have to navigate through submerged passageways in some places no more than two feet (0.6 metre) wide.

Thirteen medical teams were stationed outside the cave - each with its own helicopter and ambulance - one for each of 12 boys and their coach. After an initial assessment at the site, the plan was to airlift the boys to a makeshift helipad close to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital, some 70 km away.

Reuters

Journalists leave the site of the Tham Luang cave complex after Thailand's government instructed members of the media to move out urgently, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, on July 8, 2018.

A source at the hospital said that five emergency response doctors were awaiting the party and a further 30 doctors were on stand-by, adding that everyone was feeling tense.

"The teams here are happy the boys are being rescued but also anxious about the severity of the boys' conditions. We're under a lot of pressure," she said, declining to be named because she was not allowed to speak to the media.

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The area outside the hospital was cordoned off with police patrolling the area, said a Reuters reporter at the scene. Down the street, a loud speaker told vendors to "keep off the road" and to "not obstruct the transfer mission".

Reuters

Rescue personnel work at the Tham Luang cave complex, as members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive according to local media, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand on July 4, 2018.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, leader of the military junta that seized power in 2014, planned to visit the cave site on Monday, a government spokesman said.

His visit with relatives and rescue officials last week was criticised by some Thais as opportunistic as his government faced pro-democracy protests in the capital Bangkok in recent months.

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