Thailand cave rescue: Eight boys now freed leaving only four and coach still trapped

Four boys guided out of narrow, winding tunnels by divers on dramatic second day of operation

Eight schoolboy footballers have been rescued from a flooded Thai cave, with four of their teammates and their coach still trapped inside following the second day of a dramatic rescue operation.

Four boys were freed within three hours of each other on Monday evening, more than a fortnight after the group entered the Tham Luang network of caverns in the country’s northern Chiang Rai province.

Officials said the boys were “safe and conscious” in hospital, where they will be reunited with four of their teammates who were rescued on Sunday.

The boys were guided out of the sprawling and treacherous network of underground tunnels by an international team of divers taking part in a high-stakes rescue operation that has transfixed the world.

“We have helped four more children today,” said rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn, after efforts were halted for the night. He said rescuers would resume work in the hope of freeing the remaining five people in about 20 hours’ time.

“The health of the remaining five people inside the cave is still good,” Mr Narongsak added.

Authorities said Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Thai prime minister, would visit all eight boys already rescued in hospital on Monday night in hospital.

The Facebook page of Thailand’s Navy Seals, who have been central to the rescue operation, was updated with a post reading “two days, eight boars” – a reference to the Wild Boars, the name of the boys’ football team.

Authorities have been rushing to free the boys, between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach from the cave as the annual monsoon bears down on the mountainous region.

Chiang Rai governer Narongsak Osatanakorn told a press conference that rescue workers had been able to work quicker on Monday because of their earlier experience of navigating the cave’s treacherous passages.

Workers have been labouring round the clock to pump water out of the cave, which authorities said had offset heavy downpours overnight and prevented the water level within the caves rising.

The rescue operation has involved the boys diving through the cave’s narrow, twisting and jagged passageways while tethered to their rescuers.

The four boys rescued Sunday were happy and in good health, authorities said on Monday evening.

“This morning they said they were hungry and wanted to eat khao pad grapao,” Mr Narongsak said, referring to a Thai comfort food dish of meat fried with chili and basil and served over rice.

The four are undergoing medical checks in a hospital in the provincial capital and were not yet allowed close contact with relatives due to fear of infections. Relatives were able to see them through a glass partition, the governor said.

Seven experienced cave divers from the UK involved in the rescue, expected to take up to four days.

“The UK divers are part of the core team, so they will be actively involved and that will include escorting each child out through the flooded passage,” said a British Cave Rescue Council spokesman.

The death of a former Thai navy Seal on Friday underlined the risks of the operation. Saman Gunan had been working in a volunteer capacity and died on a mission to place air canisters along the boys’ exit route.

The boys and their coach went exploring in the huge Tham Luang Nang Non cave on 23 June after football practice and were cut off when a rainstorm flooded the cave.

A huge search operation was launched, taking 10 days to locate the boys, who had taken shelter on a dry slope deep inside the complex.

The search and rescue operation has riveted people both in Thailand and internationally, with journalists from across the globe travelling to the site near to Thailand’s border with Myanmar.