Alwaght- Twelve boys and their assistant soccer coach have been found alive inside a flooded cave complex in northern Thailand nine days after they went missing.
The boys were found late Monday night during a desperate search that drew international help and captivated the nation. Miraculously, they are mostly in stable medical condition and have received high-protein liquid food. However they are still trapped in the cave as Flooding and other factors have made their extraction dangerous. Experts say it could be safer to simply supply them where they are for now
Chiang Rai provincial Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn said the health of the boys and coach were checked using a field assessment in which red is critical condition, yellow is serious and green is stable.
"We found that most of the boys are in green condition," he said. "Maybe some of the boys have injuries or light injuries and would be categorized as yellow condition. But no one is in red condition."
The Thai Navy SEALs, who have been leading the large-scale search and rescue operation, posted a heartwarming video on its FB page, showing the moment the British divers first saw the frail-looking boys, crammed on a narrow ledge in complete darkness.
In the five-minute navy video, the boys are quiet as they sit on their haunches, legs bent in front of them.
"How many of you are there — 13? Brilliant," a member of the multinational rescue team, speaking in English, tells the boys. "You are very strong."
"Thank you so much," one of the boys says.
One boy, noticing the camera and hearing unfamiliar words, says in Thai, "Oh, they want to take a picture. Tell him we're hungry. I haven't had anything to eat."
Then the boy breaks into simple English, saying, "Eat, eat, eat," to which another voice responds in Thai that he already told that to the rescuer.
It is as-yet unclear whether the rescuers will wait till the water goes down, which is difficult to predict as heavy rains –that are set to continue– are hampering efforts to pump out water from around the refuge. In case it proves impossible for the moment, the rescuers may try to teach the boys how to dive so they can leave the cave by themselves, according to Capt. Akanand Surawan from the Royal Navy.
The boys, all aged between 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach got trapped by accident, when they decided to explore the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system, popular with tourists. However, the heavy rainfall cut them off. Late last week, rescuers managed to find another entrance to the system, a narrow hole some 1.5 meters in diameter and over 22 meters (72 feet) deep, that was leading to the opening of the cave. The lucky discovery deep in the jungle made the rescue possible. When the rescuers first reached the cave system, it was flooded, and they had to go another 300 to 400 meters before they spotted the stranded boys.
