A treacherous rescue bid to free a youth football team trapped in a flooded Thai cave entered its second day Monday, with nine of the "Wild Boars" still inside after elite divers guided four out.



Looming rain was one of the main enemies of the operation, threatening to flood the cave complex in mountainous northern Thailand, although a bewildering array of other dangers could also doom their safe return.

Thailand has waited anxiously for news of the safe return of the boys and their 25-year-old coach since they became trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex on June 23, in a saga that has dominated global headlines.

They spent nine days unaccounted for inside the cave, before British divers found the emaciated and dishevelled group huddling on a muddy bank.

On Sunday four members of the "Wild Boar" team were successfully brought out from the cave, after authorities decided they had to rush ahead with a rescue operation to beat monsoon rains.

They were guided by expert divers who plotted the hours-long escape through more than four kilometres of twisting passageways and flooded chambers.

Rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn on Sunday said four of the team — affectionately dubbed by Thai social media Wild Boars 1,2,3,4 — were 'safe' but released few details about their condition or identities.

He said the extraction effort would likely resume early Monday.

"We've been working continuously overnight," a Chiang Rai government source told AFP on Monday morning, requesting anonymity, and confirming that there had only been a pause of the actual extraction operations.

With authorities releasing few details of the rescue bid, parents continued their agonising wait to be reunited with their sons.

"I am still waiting here at the cave, keeping my fingers crossed to see whether my son will be one of those to come out today," Akkarat Wongsukjan, a mother of Pheerapat — known by his nickname 'Night' — told AFP.

"We heard four boys are out but we do not know who they are. Many parents are still here waiting. None of us has been informed of anything."

But she added she was 'happy' at the prospect of seeing her son again.

To get the boys out, divers will be forced by the narrow passages to accompany them one at a time.

None of the boys have scuba diving experience and experts have warned they could easily panic while swimming underwater in darkness.

The lack of space has added complexity to storing enough canisters of oxygen along the route out.

The death of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver who ran out of oxygen in the cave on Friday underscored the danger of the journey even for professionals.

The hordes of global and local media have been kept back from the cave and the hospital in Chiang Rai where the boys are believed to be under observation.

Night's relatives have said they believe the group went to the cave to celebrate his 16th birthday after a Saturday football practice and got caught as heavy rains caused the water inside the cave to suddenly rise.

A frantic rescue mission was hatched in the week since they were found.

Expert climbers, divers and Thai Navy Seals have mulled contingencies ranging from drilling an escape route through the mountain to waiting out the monsoon inside the cave.

But the rescue was prodded into action by the threat of a fresh round of rains and falling oxygen levels in the cave.</s>(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit). Family members pray in front of a Buddhist statue near a cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since June 23, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand Saturday, July 7, 2018. The soccer coach...

(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit). Thai soldiers drag water pipes that will help bypass water from entering a cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since June 23, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand Saturday, July 7, 2018...

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) - The Latest on the rescue of 12 schoolboys and their coach from a cave in northern Thailand (all times local):

A Thai governor says the operation to bring out 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach from deep inside a cave where they have been trapped for two weeks has begun.

The acting Chiang Rai governor has told reporters "today is D-Day" with 13 foreigner and five Thai divers taking part in the rescue.

He says the divers went in at 10 a.m. and the boys will gradually come out accompanied by two divers each. He says the earliest they will come out is 9 p.m. Sunday (10 a.m. ET).

The only way to bring them out is by navigating dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents, as well as oxygen-depleted air.

Experienced cave rescue experts consider an underwater escape a last resort, especially with people untrained in diving, as the boys are. The path out is considered especially complicated because of twists and turns in narrow flooded passages.

But the governor supervising the mission said earlier that mild weather and falling water levels over the last few days had created optimal conditions for an underwater evacuation that won't last if it rains again.

Thai authorities have asked media to leave the area around the entrance of the cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped for two weeks, fueling speculation that a rescue mission could be imminent.

Dozens of divers have arrived at the cave on Sunday morning.

Thai officials said Saturday they are worried that heavy monsoon rain could soon make the job even more difficult and they may need to quickly rescue the boys and the soccer coach from a partially flooded cave by helping them make risky dives to safety.

The boys, ages 11-16, and their 25-year-old became stranded when they went exploring in the cave after a practice game. Monsoon flooding cut off their escape and prevented rescuers from finding them for almost 10 days.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Thai official says ongoing cave rescue of 12 boys and soccer coach could take 2-4 days

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) — Thai official says ongoing cave rescue of 12 boys and soccer coach could take 2-4 days .</s>AN AUSTRALIAN doctor's triaging of 12 boys trapped in a cave in northern Thailand may have led to the rescue of four of the weakest children first.

Chiang Rai former governor Narongsak Osottanakorn, who is heading the rescue operation, had said Sunday was the "perfect day" to launch the daring rescue before heavy rain was again expected inundate the Tham Luang caves, 60km from Chiang Rai.

The initial plan was to bring the strongest out first.

But after Adelaide cave diver and anaesthetist Richard Harris, 53, assessed the youngsters and their coach that strategy appears to have been reversed, Thai media has reported.

Adding to the theory is the relatively short time it took to retrieve the four boys from the cave because of the lower water levels, which meant they could wade through some sections of the underground labyrinth instead of diving. Narongsak told a press conference late Sunday the rescue operation, launched at 10am, had taken "hours faster than expected".

Further adding to speculation that the weakest were rescued first was the condition of the first boy taken from the cave.

Mongkol Boonpiem, 13, emerged from the cave at 5.37pm and was taken to Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital.

Thai media reported one of the four boys was in a critical condition and a family friend told a reporter it was Mongkol, the weakest of the group, whose condition has since stabilised.

"I think Narongsak and the commanders changed their minds after the Australian doctor inspected the boys' health and mental state," one senior Thai journalist said.

"They decided to take the weakest out first." The boys aged 11 to 16 are members of the Mu Pa Academy Mae Sai football club and have been trapped inside the Tham Luang cave with their coach, Ekapol Chantawong, 25, since June 23.

Dr Harris was requested by other international divers at the cave site to join the rescue operation.

He has 30 years' diving experience and was involved in the retrieval of the body of stunt diver Agnes Milowka who died at Millicent, South Australia, in 2011.

Eight Australian divers, six from the Australian Federal Police, are part of the 90-strong Thai and international diving team taking part in the operation.

It's also understood the decision to ban the media, totalling about 1000, from the area around the cave entrance on Sunday was to facilitate faster ambulance access to the freeway to get the rescued boys to a football field where they could be taken by helicopter to the Chiang Rai hospital.

The rescue operation is due to resume at 8am on Monday.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is scheduled to visit Chiang Rai in the afternoon.</s>Thailand cave rescue: Four boys rescued after two weeks in flooded cave

CHIANG RAI, Thailand: Four of 12 Thai schoolboys were rescued from a flooded cave on Sunday in a daring and dangerous operation to save the children and their soccer coach who have been trapped underground for more than two weeks.

The operation to rescue the remaining eight boys - some as young as 11 and weak swimmers - and the coach was called off at nightfall until Monday to give the divers time to replenish oxygen supplies and ensure all preparations were complete.

Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand’s elite navy SEAL unit guided the boys to safety through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai navy diver on Friday.

"Today was the best day, the best situation in terms of the weather, the health of the boys, our water management for our rescue effort," the head of the rescue operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn, told a news conference.

"Today we managed to rescue and send back four children to Chiang Rai Prachanukrua Hospital safely.

"The rescuers needed at least 10 hours to prepare for their next operation, involving about 90 divers in total, 50 of them from foreign countries, he said. A helicopter flew the four boys to the nearby city of Chiang Rai, where they were taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Their ordeal has drawn huge media attention in Thailand and abroad, and getting the boys out safely could be a boost for Thailand’s junta ahead of a general election next year.

Bursts of heavy monsoon rain soaked the Tham Luang Cave area in northern Chiang Rai province on Sunday and storms were expected in 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 soccer 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.

The rescue teams had rehearsed the plan for several days, Narongsak said, and had managed to drain the cave water level 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.</s>The second dramatic rescue operation began on Monday at 11am local time (2pm AEST), 16 days after the team first went missing, as anxious relatives endured another agonising day. Fairfax Media was told the operation would aim to extract another four members of the remaining nine members of the soccer team and their coach, who remain trapped 3.2 kilometres inside the cave complex. Rescue mission chief Narongsak Osottanakorn, the former governor of the Chiang Rai province, would not say how many more of the trapped team would come out on Monday. In an upbeat assessment, he said “it’s perfect conditions like yesterday” and that “I expect in the next four to five hours we will have good news”, reflecting on the fact there had been fewer tropical showers than forecast.

But rescue workers and divers are still working in incredibly trying conditions, with roads leading to the cave thick with mud, temperatures hovering above 30 degrees celcius for close to 18 hours a day, soaring humidity and dark clouds and thick fog hanging low over the Khun Nam Nang Norn mountain. In a boost to the rescue effort, after raining solidly on Sunday night the heaviest rains mostly held off on Monday. Thai authorities have repeatedly warned that monsoon season rains could rapidly reverse the huge effort that has seen more than 100 million litres of water pumped out of the cave to clear the way for rescuers and smooth the path for the boys. Headcam footage shows the treacherous path the rescuers must navigate in order to retrieve the stranded school boys and their coach. Narongsak said Thai Authorities were considering allowing the parents of the four boys who had already been rescued visit them outside a transparent glass room. They were not yet allowed direct contact due to fear of infections.

The boys, he added, had asked to eat padkrapao, a chicken dish with sweet basil. Some of the 18 divers who participated in the first rescue mission on Sunday would be swapped out and rested and replaced by others. He would not provide the names of the first four boys who were rescued on Sunday, citing concern for the families, but he did say the “perfect ones, the most ready ones” were among the four who had been rescued - scotching suggestions that the weakest members of the team had come out first. An ambulance carrying the 5th person to be rescued from Tham Luang cave drives past the caves park entrance. An official from Thailand’s Forestry Department said that despite heavy rains overnight on Sunday, “the water levels are still stable. Water is draining ok [from the cave]” and that operations to divert streams and pump ourt water from the cave were still under way.

In essence, the rescue plan aimed to repeat the success of the first attempt. Thai Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said earlier in the day that before the operation — which will take the divers 3.2 kilometres into the cave and through perilous conditions — got under way, air tanks would have to be replenished and replaced along the route. He had also suggested the second rescue attempt would involve the same crack team of five Thai navy SEALs, along with 13 international “all-star” divers. Ambulances and a helicopter were seen buzzing around in the vicinity of the cave complex, ready to to spirit the four boys to a hospital in nearby Chiang Rai.

A huge support team of up to 90 people were expected to be involved in supporting the operation. In a boost to the rescue effort, heavy rains mostly held off on Monday. Thai authorities have repeatedly warned that monsoon rains could rapidly reverse the huge effort that has seen more than 100 million litres of water pumped out of the cave to clear the way for rescuers and smooth the path for the boys. Two helicopters wait near the cave for more evacuations of the boys and their soccer coach. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was due to arrive in the Chiang Rai region, where the cave is located, at about 4pm local time to oversee the rescue effort and speak with the families of the trapped boys and their coach. Earlier, Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, a Ministry of Health doctor at the hospital where the first four boys rescued were being treated, said on Monday that they had not yet seen their families.

He said that reunion would be delayed by 24 hours because of the need to perform exhaustive health checks and that after that, if all the tests were negative, then family could visit. The identity of the four boys has not been publicly confirmed but Fairfax Media understands that 14-year-old Mongkol "Mark" Boonpiam was the first boy rescued. Other media outlets have reported that Prajak "Note" Sutham, 14, Nattawut "Tle" Takamsai, 14 and Pipat Bodhi, 15, were the other three boys who had been rescued. Australian doctor Richard Harris, an expert diver who was requested by the private British divers in the "all-star" team, and another Australian expert diver were expected to once again join the rescue mission.</s>MAE SAI, Thailand — A rescue mission to remove a youth soccer team from a cave in northern Thailand is underway, Thai officials announced Sunday morning.

“Today is D-Day,” Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters. Thirteen foreign divers and five Thai divers began the operation at 10 a.m. Sunday morning, the governor said.

He said it’s expected to take 10-12 hours for the first boys to emerge and that the trapped boys and their families had been informed of the plan.

Each boy will be escorted by two divers, and will come out one at a time, officials said.

“We’re ready for the operation today,” said Narongsak, who said the weather and the water levels in the cave are good. “The boys are healthy, aware and ready to come out.”

An Australian doctor with cave diving experience examined the boys on Sunday and declared them fit for the operation, authorities said.

Water levels inside the cave dropped by around a foot on Saturday and are at their lowest levels since the team became trapped more than two weeks. Rescuers are able to walk deep into the cave, all the way to the “third chamber,” which is around one mile away from where the boys are located.

Officials wouldn’t say how much diving the boys would be required to do in the rescue operation.

It is also unclear how long the entire operation will take. Narongsak said that there was no time limit on the rescue and that its progress would depend on weather and conditions inside the cave, but expected it to last through Monday.

“If something changes, we’ll stop,” he said. “But I expect the operation to finish within the next couple of days.

Early on Sunday morning, all media and non-essential staff were cleared from the cave site area as divers, medics and military began moving into place.

Dark clouds and fog shrouded the area around the cave as a steady rain began falling in the early afternoon. Thunderstorms are forecast to start later on Sunday and are expected to continue through Monday as Thailand’s monsoon season gets underway.

The soccer team of 12 boys aged 11 to 16 and their 25-year-old coach have been stranded inside the massive Tham Luang cave complex in northern Chiang Rai province since June 23.</s>Rescue efforts to free a group of trapped schoolboys from a cave in Thailand have now been underway for two days, and an eighth boy has now been freed from the dangerous complex. A diving crew is currently making the treacherous journey to save the group of 13 boys aged 11-16 and their football coach who are trapped by flooded tunnels. The operation has been meticulously planned to ensure ‘minimal’ risk from danger in the cave, but it has already claimed the life of a diver. As monsoon rains threaten to fill the cave with more water, diving crews are racing against to clock to deliver the last five boys and their coach from the cave system.

Will the coach be the last person saved? Thai officials have confirmed that they are prioritising the weaker boys first, in order to ensure they get quick treatment. So far those who have been released have been rushed off to hospital, and the most recent boys to make it out have been stretchered off. Ekapol Chantawong, the coach, is 25 years old, and may not have been rescued yet due to age giving him better resilience. However, rumours have rated that he has apparently been giving his food to the boys to keep them healthy, if this turns out to be true he may be rescued sooner rather than later. Danger of ‘cave sickness’ due to bat and rat droppings in the cave have increased the urgency for the children to be saved so swift treatment can be given.

Change Mai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said on Monday that the rescued boys’ identities were being protected out of respect for the families of those still trapped inside the cave. The first four boys rescued from the cave are apparently now recovering well in hospital, demanding bowls of fried rice. Those rescued from the depths of the cave complex have been helicoptered off the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital, about 70 km (40 miles) away. Governor Osottanakorn said: "The four children are fine. The children complained that they were hungry and wanted holy basil stir-fried rice."</s>CHIANG RAI: The rescue operation to evacuate the 13 trapped in Tham Luang cave complex has been put on hold due to depleting oxygen levels, mission chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said on Sunday (Jul 8).

Speaking to the media, he confirmed that four boys have left the cave complex safely and transported to a hospital in Chiang Rai's city centre.

The mission chief also said rescue workers will need at least 10 hours to prepare for the next evacuation as oxygen levels need to be replenished. 



"After 16 days of waiting, we finally get to see the faces of the 'Wild Boars' today," Narongsak said, referring to the name of the boys' football team. "Our mission is more successful than we've hoped for." 



READ: The first leg of the rescue operation, as it happened

The operation began at 10am local time, with the first boys anticipated at 9pm.

But the operation turned out faster than expected, with the first boy evacuated from the cave at 5.40pm local time, while the second emerged about 10 minutes later. The third boy came out of the cave at 7.40pm, while the last one appeared at 7.50pm, according to Narongsak.



He added that the four boys were selected to come out based on the assessment of their health. They wore full-faced masks and hung on to divers' bodies on their way out, Narongsak said.

He confirmed that nine survivors remained inside the cave complex. 



WATCH: What the boys and the divers have to go through to make their way out of Tham Luang cave complex



More than 90 divers took part in the rescue operation on Sunday, which kicked off at 10am (local time). Among them, about 50 are foreigners, Narongsak said. 



The 12 schoolboys and their football coach have been trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex since Jun 23, after entering the cave during heavy rains after football practice.

All 13 were found alive late on Jul 2. The group was then taught how to use diving masks and breathing apparatuses.

On Saturday, Narongsak said it was "not suitable" yet to have the boys dive to safety. With more heavy rain expected, the rescue operation began on Sunday morning.</s>CHIANG RAI, Thailand July 9 (Reuters) - The first four boys rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand were in good health and demanding fried rice in hospital on Monday, the head of the rescue team said, as divers resumed operations to bring out the remaining members of the group.

The bid to rescue the boys - aged between 11 and 16 - and their 25-year-old soccer coach got going again after a break late on Sunday to replenish the team’s oxygen supplies and make other preparations deep inside the cave.

The four boys, rescued on Sunday, were flown by helicopter from the Tham Luang cave to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital, located at the heart of Chiang Rai province, about 70 km (40 miles) away.

A fifth boy was rescued on Monday afternoon, a Royal Thai Navy official said. No other details on him were immediately available.

Seven more boys and the coach are still trapped.

“The four children are fine. The children complained that they were hungry and wanted holy basil stir-fried rice,” Narongsak Osottanakorn, the head of the rescue operation, told reporters on Monday, referring to a popular Thai dish.

Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda also said the boys were in good health. He did not give further details.

Officials have yet to confirm the identities of the four boys freed. Narongsak on Monday said their identities were being protected out of respect for the families of those still trapped inside the cave.

Officials last week said they would bring the fittest people in the group out first, but Narongsak later said that whoever was ready first would be escorted out.

A source involved in the rescue mission who saw two of the four boys walk out of the cave told Reuters that they looked tired but healthy, adding that one even looked “vivacious and fresh”. He did not give further details.

“Imagine marathon runners. It’s like when they reach the finish line exhausted,” said the source.

At the hospital in Chiang Rai, green canvas sheets had been put up to block the entrance from view.

Ambulances were on standby to receive the next batch of boys who are expected to be plucked from the cave.

Medical staff involved in the rescue mission told Reuters their first assessments when the boys arrive at the hospital will focus on their breathing, signs of hypothermia and an airborne lung infection known as ‘cave disease’ which is caused by bat and bird droppings and can be fatal if untreated and allowed to spread to other parts of the body.

The first four rescued boys have been placed in a ward set aside specifically for the cave rescue, a source at the hospital said. (Additional reporting by Panu Wongcha-um Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Four boys are rescued from the cave.