The 12 young soccer players and their coach who got trapped in a flooded network of caves 10 days ago in northern Thailand were miraculously found alive Monday — all still in their sports jerseys. But with the search over, rescuers now face two very treacherous choices in getting the boys out of the labyrinthine Tham Luang cave network. “We found them safe. But the operation isn’t over,” the Chiang Rai province’s governor, Narongsak Osatanakorn, said Monday. Authorities were mulling Monday night whether they should wait for water levels to subside while the boys and coach wait in their muddy spot more than 131 feet underground — or teach them to swim out. Waiting for the water to recede could take weeks, and heavy rains were expected to move in this week, further threatening the trapped group’s safety. The other option was teaching the boys — who range in age from 11 to 16 and are weakened by hunger — to strap on scuba gear and navigate their way out of the dark, narrow tunnels in murky water. It’s a feat even an experienced diver would find difficult. Ben Reymenants, a Dutch rescuer who assisted the search, called the boys’ survival a “miracle” but predicted it could be weeks or even months before the water recedes enough for the rescue to be completed. “At the end of the day, they are [more than a mile] inside a very complex cave system,” he told the BBC’s “Newsnight.” “The issue is that time is not really on our side because they’re expecting heavy rains within three days, and the cave system [could] just flood, making access impossible for the kids.” Thousands of gallons of water were being pumped out of the cave every hour. And rescue workers were bringing in supplies and oxygen by rope and keeping close contact with the team, named the Wild Boars. “We will take care of them until they can move,” Narongsak said, according to Agence France-Presse. “We will bring food to them and a doctor who can dive. I am not sure they can eat, as they have not eaten for a while.” Specialized divers from all over the world were called in last week to search for the boys. The group disappeared during a team outing with their coach June 23. They got trapped in the 6-mile network of caves following heavy flooding, officials said. Rescuers discovered the team’s bicycles, soccer cleats and backpacks near the entrance, and handprints and footprints farther in, but came up empty during their initial searches. Experts from the US military, the UK, China and Australia were brought in to assist. But the effort was hampered by mud and heavy rains, which flooded and blocked access to the chamber where the group was believed to be. “If you can think of taking a glass cup of coffee and trying to look through it, that’s the minimum of how that water was after the flood,” rescue-diving expert Butch Hendrick told CNN. The divers “couldn’t see where they were going,” Hendrick said. Workers took advantage of a brief window of good weather Monday to edge farther into a narrow passageway of a cave located on higher ground. The divers had spent much of their day preparing for a final push through the cave network when they stumbled upon the team, officials said. Stunning video footage released by the Thai navy’s special-ops force showed the moment rescuers came upon the group. The boys appeared to be huddled on a rocky slope inside the black cave, still wearing the red-and-blue soccer jerseys they had on when they disappeared. “We are coming. It’s OK. Many people are coming. We are the first,” a British rescuer tells the group in the video. One of the boys asks what day it is. The rescuer replies, “Monday. You have been here . . . 10 days. “You are very strong,” he tells the group. No one had been in contact with the team since it went missing, and it was still unclear how they were able to stay alive. “Miraculously, they found the kids, and they all seemed to be in good mental health,” Reymenants told the BBC. “Obviously very weak, but they’re all alive, and they’ve been sitting on a piece of rock in a dry room for about 10 days, so that is a miracle.” Reymenants noted it is warm in the cave and water reportedly drips down from the walls at all times, likely helping them avoid dehydration and hypothermia. “Kids usually can survive quite long without food, [but] they’re obviously very skinny, and there’s some muscle atrophy,” he said. “[Navy medics] went to them with food and medication to get them back to strength.” Officials said the cave network wends up and down and is extremely narrow, making it difficult for divers to navigate. When the water levels dropped, divers deployed a rope line along the passage and sent the oxygen and other supplies along the way. The boys were found about 300 to 400 yards past the section of the cave nicknamed “Pattaya Beach,” which is where rescuers thought they were located. Family and friends who had held vigils at the cave entrance erupted in cheers when the learned the boys had been found. Shamans and Buddhist monks had held prayers and made offerings at the cave imploring mountain spirits to return the boys. Aisha Wiboonrungrueng, a mother of one of the boys, said she was going to cook her 11-year-old son, Chanin, a fried Thai omelet — his favorite food — as soon as he returns home. An uncle of a 13-year-old team member told Thai news outlet The Nation, “I am so glad that I cannot think of anything else.” Another mother, Tinnakorn Boonpiem, worried what lasting effects the ordeal would have on her 12-year-old son. “I’m so glad . . . I want to him to be physically and mentally fit. I am afraid he will be mentally affected by this incident,” she told AFP.<doc-sep>MAE SAI, Thailand -- Twelve boys and their soccer coach have been missing inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand for three days. Efforts to rescue them hinge on pumping out water so that navy divers have room to operate, the first high-level Thai official to visit the site said Tuesday. Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda told reporters that navy SEAL divers leading the search are seriously handicapped by muddy water that has filled some chambers of the large cave to the ceilings. The boys, aged 11-16, have been missing since their coach took them to the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex on Saturday after a practice match. The search had to be suspended again because of high water. Paojinda said the divers can proceed only when enough water is pumped out so there is space between the water and the ceiling to make it safer to work. The divers will also soon start using special oxygen tanks that provide longer diving times, he said. A SEAL diver said the water is so murky that even with lights they cannot see where they are going underwater, so they need to be able to lift their heads above the water. Family members and relatives pray as they keep vigil near the Tham Luang cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai, Thailand, on June 26, 2018, while rescue personnel conduct a rescue operation for a missing children's soccer team and their coach. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Anupong said rescuers would be working night and day in the dark cave. "The SEAL team will be working nonstop because it's already dark here too," he said. "So night and day doesn't make a big difference. They'll just need to rotate." Divers have been seeking a way forward through the chambers of the cave complex, but have been forced to suspend their search several times. The authorities are also seeking alternative ways in, using helicopters and search parties on foot to find possible holes in the ceilings of other parts of the cave. A small glimmer of hope was dashed Tuesday afternoon after explorers found two fissures in the rock on the mountain in which the cave is located. After an evaluation, experts found neither could be used as a "chimney" to gain access to 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. Thai soldiers relay electric cable deep into the Tham Luang cave at the Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai, Thailand, on June 26, 2018, during a rescue operation for a missing children's soccer team and their coach. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images The boys and their 25-year-old coach entered the cave in Chiang Rai province late Saturday afternoon. A mother reported that her son did not return from soccer practice that day, setting off the search. Relatives of the missing boys and others performed a ritual Tuesday morning calling for those who are missing. They played drums and gongs and two relatives held fishing nets as symbols to fish out lost spirits from the cave. Organizer Jiratat Kodyee said the ritual was a traditional way of showing support for the boys' families. The cave complex extends several miles and has wide chambers and narrow passageways with rocky outcrops and changes in elevation. Still, officials have said they are hopeful the boys found a safe space away from the floods. Rising waters Monday evening frustrated efforts to search farther in the cave, and efforts were halted temporarily. During the night, rescue teams and electricians extended a power line half a mile and communication lines into the cave. "We hope this will provide lights for work and fans for ventilation for the SEAL team," Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osottanakorn said. "Also, it means we can use electric engines to pump water out of the cave as well." Parents waited overnight in tents outside the cave entrance as rain poured. Medics sat in a tent nearby, and bicycles, backpacks and soccer cleats the boys left behind remained at the entrance. At a prayer session Monday evening, some of the boys' relatives walked inside the cave entrance, where their cries echoed off the walls. "My son, come on out! I am waiting for you here!" one woman cried. Another kneeled down near the bicycles and prayed, asking "Where is my child?" Authorities have said footprints and handprints were found inside the cave complex, and that tourists trapped there by past floods have been rescued after the waters receded. Getting farther into the cave has required lots of oxygen and special diving skills, which would also complicate rescue efforts once the boys are found, officials said. The cave, cut into a mountainside near the border with Myanmar, can flood severely during the rainy season, which runs from June to October, and there are warnings against exploring then.<doc-sep>A Thai youth soccer team and its coach were found alive Monday in a vast, flooded cave complex where they disappeared more than a week ago, and a photo taken by rescuers showed the smiling faces of several survivors. Video released early Tuesday by the Thai navy showed the boys in their soccer uniforms sitting on a dry area inside the cave above the water as a spotlight, apparently from a rescuer, illuminated their faces. Chiang Rai provincial Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said the 13 were in the process of being rescued, but he cautioned that they were not out of danger. “We found them safe. But the operation isn’t over,” he said in comments broadcast nationwide, referring to the complicated process of extricating them. It was not immediately clear when the group would be removed from the cave. Narongsak said the rescue was underway and conditions of the players were being evaluated. Photos sent from the rescue team showed some of the boys smiling for the camera. The smiles fueled optimism for their ecstatic family members awaiting word outside the cave, the Bangkok Post reported. Aisha Wiboonrungrueng, the mother of Chanin Wiboonrungrueng, 11, smiled and hugged her family. She said she was excited to cook her son a Thai fried omelet, his favorite food, when he emerges from the labyrinth. The desperate search drew worldwide attention, and hundreds of rescuers worked around the clock combating heavy rains and flooding that slowed the effort. Massive pumps cleared water out of sections of cave, allowing rescuers to drill deep into a network of tunnels. More:US rescue team aids desperate search for Thailand soccer team More:'We must find the children today': Desperate cave search underway The players, ages 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach had been stranded since June 23 in the Tham Luang Nang Non caves in Thailand's rugged, mountainous Chiang Rai province. "Thai Navy SEALs have found all 13 with signs of life," the governor said. "We will take care of them until they can move." They were found near the so-called Pattaya Beach, an elevated rock mound used by people when water floods the caves. Earlier Monday, Thai authorities announced searchers had closed to within less than 600 yards of the mound and were widening the narrow, twisting route with drills so they could pass through with their gear. Last week, the U.S. Pacific Command sent a 30-person rescue team to northern Thailand to aid the desperate search, which began when a mother reported her son had not returned from practice. The soccer team had not been heard from since. Teams from Britain, China, Australia and other countries joined the effort. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha issued a statement of thanks to "all international units that have come to assist the Thai authorities in rescuing the youth football team. ... The Royal Thai Government and the Thai people are grateful for this support and cooperation, and we all wish the team a safe and speedy recovery.” Thai military and first responders led the effort, backed by military helicopters, remotely operated underwater vehicles and drones equipped with heat detectors. Families of the missing joined by Buddhist monks conducted a vigil outside the cave entrance, and the team's bikes and soccer gear remained strewn in the area. Contributing: The Associated Press<doc-sep>Soccer team rescue Onlookers at Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital cheer as ambulances transport the last rescued schoolboys and their coach from a helipad to the hospital on July 10, 2018, in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Videos released by the Thai navy SEALs showed the boys, ages 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach are in good health. (Photo: Linh Pham/Getty Images) All 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped for more than two weeks deep inside a flooded Thai cave have been rescued, a Thai navy SEAL unit said on Tuesday, marking a successful end to a perilous mission that has gripped the world. “The 12 Wild Boars and coach have emerged from the cave and they are safe,” the Thai navy SEAL unit said on its official Facebook page. The Wild Boars soccer team and its coach got trapped on June 23 while exploring the cave complex in the northern province of Chiang Rai after soccer practice, and a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels, blocking their exit. (Reuters) _____ See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr.<doc-sep>
Twelve boys and their soccer coach were found alive in cave in Thailand. Twelve boys and their soccer coach, lost for 10 days in a cave in Thailand, have been found alive, officials announced Monday. "Thai Navy SEALs have found all 13 with signs of life," Narongsak Osottanakorn, the governor of the Chiang Rai province, told reporters. Rescuers are now working to extract the team from the cave. The Thai Navy SEALs posted a video on Facebook showing the group when they were first found. The boys appeared to be in good health and were talking, asking what day it was and being told by rescuers that more help was on the way. "I am very happy," one of the boys said in English. "Thank you so much." A British diver on the SEAL team told the group, "You have been here 10 days. You are very strong." One of the boys asked him, "What time do we go outside?" The diver responded, "No, not today, not today. There's two of us. You have to dive. We're coming. It's OK. Many people are coming. Many, many people. We're the first. Many people come." The divers provided the group with lights and told them food and medical help were on the way. "Where are you from?" one of the rescued boys asked. The diver answered, "England, the UK." "God bless you," another member of the rescued party was heard saying. When a Thai military official announced the rescue at a base camp near the mouth of the cave, loud cheers went up from the searchers, who had been praying and working feverishly for such an outcome. Aisha Wiboonrungrueng's 11-year-old son, Chanin Wiboonrungrueng, was among rescued. "He would love to eat a fried omelet," the ecstatic mother told reporters. Ben Reymenants, a Belgian diver who is part of an international contingent that had been searching for the soccer team, said he was briefed by an operation commander on the rescue. He said the children and their coach were weak when they were found and that a medic was now with them in the cave, providing medical assistance. Reymenants told ABC News the race is on to safely remove the group from the cave over the next 12 hours before the next rainstorm hits. The miraculous rescue came during a lull in the torrential rains that had hampered the agonizing search. The respite from the rain also gave rescuers confidence to push forward in an area of the subterranean labyrinth they had hoped the boys and their coach were waiting to be saved. Gov. Osottanakorn said the rescuers reached the area known as Pattaya Beach where they thought they would find the lost group. When they arrived the area was flooded. He said the rescuers forged ahead about another 1,000 feet, where they discovered the boys and their coach. "It is another high ground," Osottanakorn said of where the group was located. "We found that our younger brothers are safe." Reymenants said the team was found in the dark and wet underground web of tunnels in the jungle of northern Thailand about a day after rescuers spotted fresh writing on a wall of one of the passageways. "I'm feeling so happy. This is like out of a movie, truthfully," U.S. Air Force Capt. Jessica Tait, a spokeswoman for the 353rd Special Operations Group, told ABC News at the base camp near the entrance to the cave. "I felt elation. I felt so excited," she said of getting the news that the team had been located. The 12 boys, ranging in age from 11 to 16, and their coach went missing after entering the Tham Luang Nang Non cave for an excursion on June 23. Officials believe the team became trapped when monsoon rains flooded passages and blocked their path back to the entrance of the cave where authorities found their bicycles. Rescuers were hoping to find the group in the dryer part of the cave, where nooks, crannies, chambers and tunnels run six miles beneath the rugged mountains near the borders of Myanmar and Laos. Divers had to pull themselves along with rope against powerful currents in the cave's water. The visibility was so poor that one rescuer described it as swimming through coffee. The rescue operation had gripped the attention of Thailand and beyond as people across the region collectively prayed for a miracle in the search that had entered its tenth day on Monday.