Official: Need more oxygen to finish rescue An ambulance leaves the Tham Luang cave area after divers evacuated some of the 12 boys and their coach trapped at the cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province on July 8, 2018. - Elite divers on July 8 began the extremely dangerous operation to extract 12 boys and their football coach who have been trapped in a flooded cave complex in northern Thailand for more than two weeks, as looming monsoon rains threatened the rescue effort. (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) / (Photo credit should read LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images) Father of rescued boy: I want to hug him See first video of Thai boys' rescue from cave Some of the boys who were trapped in a cave in Northern Thailand outside a hospital in Chiang Rai after being discharged. CHIANG RAI, THAILAND - JULY 18: Twelve boys and their coach from the "Wild Boars" soccer team arrive for a press conference for the first time since they were rescued from a cave in northern Thailand last week, on July 18, 2018 in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach were discharged early from Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital after a speedy recovery and thanked those involved in their rescue. (Photo by Linh Pham/Getty Images) 12 boys and their coach all out of Thai cave (CNN) — The operation to rescue the remaining boys and their coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand was expected to resume Monday morning, but heavy rain threatened to further complicate the mission. Four of the 12 boys were extracted from the Tham Luang cave network in the Chiang Rai province Sunday evening, before the operation was suspended overnight to allow oxygen tanks to be refilled before rescue teams begin the next phase. The four boys, who were taken to a Chiang Rai hospital for further medical examination, are said to be in good health, with their condition described by officials as “not that bad.” But rescue teams don’t have an abundance of time. Rain began to fall on Sunday, and more rain is forecast throughout the coming days, which could undo the ongoing efforts to drain the flooded caverns where the other boys remain trapped. “We have two obstacles: water and time,” said Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osotthanakorn earlier Sunday, as rain began to fall across the site near the cave entrance. “This is what we have been racing against since day one,” he said. “We have to do all we can, even though it is hard to fight the force of nature.” FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES ’A very smooth operation’ Sunday’s mission went quicker than it had in drills over the last several days, according to Osotthanakorn. Previously, the entire round trip through the cave network was thought to take about 11 hours. But the first of the four boys emerged from the cave entrance about nine hours after a team of 18 international cave diving experts went in to retrieve them. Linh Pham/Getty Images An ambulance leaves the Tham Luang cave area after divers evacuated some of the 12 boys trapped with their coach for 15 days. The boys wore “full face masks and the rescue divers carried them out through the passage in the cave complex,” Osotthanakorn said in a news conference after the rescue. “It was a very smooth operation today,” he added. While the governor would not confirm the identities of the four boys, he said the first one emerged at 5:40 p.m., followed by the second boy 10 minutes later. Two other boys emerged from the cave at 7:40 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. Twelve boys – aged between 11 and 16 – and their coach, were discovered by two British divers on July 2, nine days after they abandoned their bicycles and disappeared into the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex. Pressure mounting as rain dominates forecasts Rescuers have a dwindling window of opportunity, with forecasters predicting the return of heavy monsoon rains in the coming days, effectively sealing off the cave until October. It was the rain that stranded the boys and their coach inside the cave to begin with, after they ventured into the cave network last month. “The heaviest rain has yet to come,” said CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Rain is forecast for at least the next three days. Rescue teams have been helped by the fact that the rain stopped for several days, allowing water to be pumped out of the cave and making it possible for the four boys and specialist rescue teams to make the final leg of the journey on foot. Osotthanakorn told reporters there would be a meeting Sunday evening to plan next steps, and that authorities want to ensure conditions are stable before beginning the next phase of the rescue. A dangerous journey Those still inside the cave are perched on a small muddy ledge 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) inside the cave complex, surrounded by floodwater and with a limited supply of oxygen. For the boys – some of whom can’t swim – the most dangerous part of the journey out of the labyrinth cave system remains the first kilometer, in which they are required to pass through a flooded channel no wider than a person. During this process, rescuers need to hold the boys’ oxygen tanks in front of them and swim pencil-like through submerged holes. Having completed this section, the boys are then handed over to separate, specialist rescue teams, who help assist them through the remainder of the cave, much of which they can wade through. Initially, officials said the strongest boys would be taken out of the cave first. But Osottanakorn said on Sunday it would be up to boys and a doctor inside the cave with them to determine the order in which they would exit. That decision would also depend on a medical examination by the doctor. “I don’t know who will come out first,” the governor added. Divers have previously described conditions in the cave network as some of the most extreme they have ever faced. The decision to move the boys using divers has not been taken lightly. On Friday, a former Thai Navy SEAL died while returning from an operation to deliver oxygen tanks to the cave. Finnish volunteer diver Mikko Paasi, a long-term resident of Thailand, said the death of the Thai Navy SEAL had changed the mood on the ground and made real for rescuers just how dangerous the mission had become. “Definitely, you can feel it that it has an effect, but we’re moving on. Everyone is a professional so we’re trying to put it away and avoid it happening again,” he said, adding: “Everybody is focusing on getting these boys out – keeping them alive or getting them out.” Photos: Photos: Thai soccer team rescued from cave PHOTO: LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images The rescued team attends a news conference in Chiang Rai, Thailand, after being discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, July 18. Photos: Photos: Thai soccer team rescued from cave PHOTO: Linh Pham/Getty Images Members of the soccer team greet well-wishers as they arrive for the news conference on July 18. Photos: Photos: Thai soccer team rescued from cave PHOTO: Thailand's Ministry of Health and the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital via AP The team poses with a sketched portrait of Saman Kunan, a former Thai Navy SEAL who died on July 6 while returning from an operation to deliver oxygen tanks to the cave. He ran out of air while underwater, an official said. Photos: Photos: Thai soccer team rescued from cave PHOTO: Thai Navy Seal Handout Thai Navy SEALs pose for a photo after the rescue effort was finished on July 10. One of them was a doctor who stayed with the team for a week after the group was found alive on July 2. Photos: Photos: Thai soccer team rescued from cave PHOTO: Thai Navy Seals Rescuers carry one of the boys out of the cave. Photos: Photos: Thai soccer team rescued from cave PHOTO: Thai Navy Seals Divers wave through floodwaters in the cave.<doc-sep>Divers pulling the 12 boys and their soccer coach from the cave were in a race against time, with the threat of rains making an already difficult rescue even more urgent. Mr. Narongsak, commander of the rescue operation, said it could take days to recover the full team. The boys and their coach are being brought out one at a time by 13 foreign cave divers and five Thai Navy SEAL divers, Mr. Narongsak said. He said the boys had been preparing for days to come out through long, flooded passageways that are challenging even for the most skilled cave divers, who must navigate openings so narrow that only one person can go through at a time. Each boy will have two divers trying to bring him out. Further complicating the operation is that some of the boys do not know how to swim, said divers participating in the rescue effort. Ambulances and helicopters are standing by to transport them to a hospital for medical treatment. “Everyone knows exactly what they have to do, because any confusion in there would be really bad,” Mr. Narongsak told a packed news conference. He said this was the best chance to bring out the boys safely. “We believe there are no days when we have been readier than today,” Mr. Narongsak said. “If we don’t do the rescue on the day when we are readiest, we might lose the opportunity to carry out this mission.” Mr. Narongsak announced that the rescue had begun after officials had cleared the area outside the cave of journalists.<doc-sep>As one diving expert put it to me, when underwater cave rescues go wrong they go wrong in a big way. So despite this promising start, there is a sense of unease here in Chiang Mai. But the overriding impression from the rescuers is a clear focus and unshakable resolve to finish the job.<doc-sep>
Four of the young Thai soccer players trapped in a partially flooded cave for more than two weeks were rescued Sunday, and authorities said the operation went better than planned. The four boys were among 12 members of the Wild Boars team, ages 11-16, who ventured deep into the cave along with their 25-year-old coach on June 23. “After 16 days of waiting, we get to see the faces of the Wild Boars,” Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osottanakorn said. The world has been watching, and an international team of divers and support crews were assembled to aid the rescue. "The U.S. is working very closely with the Government of Thailand to help get all of the children out of the cave and to safety," President Donald Trump tweeted. "Very brave and talented people!" Four emerged from the cave Sunday Narongsak said each boy was outfitted in a full scuba face mask and was escorted by two seasoned divers. Divers brought the first boy from the cave at around 5:40 p.m. local time, less than eight hours after the rescue operation started. The second boy came out 10 minutes later. Two hours later, two more boys were extracted 10 minutes apart. More:4 boys emerge from Thailand cave in first phase of perilous rescue More:Coach apologizes to parents; boys say 'don't worry' in letters The rescue was halted for the night The rescue effort for the eight remaining boys and their coach will resume sometime Monday, Narongsak said. Divers will rest, leaders will evaluate the rescue thus far, and the cave will be prepped with oxygen and other materials required to bring the stranded boys out, he said. Nargonsak said rescuing all the boys could take days. Conditions were not released Narongsak did not talk about the health of the rescued boys, but he did say the extraction went better than expected. Ambulances and helicopters were brought in to shuttle the boys to a hospital 35 miles away. Plans called for the healthiest boys to be rescued first, and Narongsak has repeatedly said the overall health of the boys was good. An Australian doctor with cave diving experience examined the boys on Sunday and declared them fit for the operation. How the boys became trapped The boys and their coach hiked more than two miles into the cave after soccer practice on June 23. Heavy rains struck the area and parts of their path back to the cave entrance became swollen with floodwaters. A search led by Thai navy SEALs and joined by volunteer divers from around the world was fruitless until Monday, when a pair of British divers came up on the hungry but apparently healthy team. Why the rescue began Sunday Mild weather and a break in the rain had lowered the water to the lowest levels since the boys were found. That meant less of the narrow, winding tunnels that make up much of the cave complex were overwhelmed by water, so much of the route out could be walked, meaning less swimming and less time in scuba gear. Most of the boys don't swim. It was raining Sunday, but Narongsak was optimistic that the rescue could continue Monday. Contributing: Thomas Maresca; The Associated Press