Elite divers rescued all 12 footballers and their coach safely out of a flooded Thai cave on Tuesday, after an 18-day ordeal, completing an arduous rescue operation.
According to the Thai Navy Seal Facebook page, the four rescue divers and one doctor are yet to emerge from the cave.
The officials have been fixated on the crisis, hoping desperately for the safe return of the 12 boys and their 25-year-old football coach, after they ventured into the Tham Luang cave complex after practice and became trapped by rising waters more than a fortnight ago.
A helicopter waits near the cave for more evacuations of the boys and their soccer coach. APA helicopter waits near the cave for more evacuations of the boys and their soccer coach. AP
The extraction of the four on Monday followed a similar pattern to the previous day, with the youngsters emerging in quick succession just before nightfall after navigating a treacherous escape route of more than four kilometres (2.5 miles).
The saga has dominated global headlines, with the team spending nine days unaccounted for inside the cave before British divers found the emaciated and dishevelled group huddling on a muddy bank above the flooding.
Authorities then struggled to determine the best way to save the "Wild Boars", with the group stuck on a shelf above the floodwaters in pitch darkness. Among the ideas were drilling an escape route through the mountain, or leaving them for months until the monsoon season ended and the flooding subsided.
"(They) will be extracted today," rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters on Tuesday morning after elite foreign divers and Thai Navy SEALs escorted eight members of the "Wild Boars" football team out in highly risky operations over the previous two days. But with oxygen levels inside dropping to dangerous lows and the prospect of heavy rains flooding the area completely, authorities decided they had to move quickly, and take the group out through the water-filled tunnels.
Dozens of foreign divers and other experts from around the world were brought in to help the rescue effort, working alongside Thai Navy SEALs. Rescue operations chief Narongsak Osottanakorn described Sunday's initial rescue bid as "D-Day" when it was launched, and there were fears that any one of many potential pitfalls could prove deadly. Among these were that none of the boys had scuba diving experience and that they could easily panic while swimming underwater in darkness. 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.
But after the first four emerged late on Sunday afternoon, hopes began to rise of a fairytale ending to the ordeal. Narongsak on Sunday described their journey out, escorted by elite divers, as "smooth". Crucially, round-the-clock pumping to ease some of the flooding had paid off. "The water level is still at a satisfactory level and we have enough teams to complete the mission," Narongsak said on Monday. But although the eight were rescued, there were concerns they may have contracted an illness while in the cave.
Narongsak said after the first four boys were rescued that they would be quarantined "for a while because we are concerned about infections". And rain could still re-emerge as a threat for the remaining five, particularly if there are complications that could delay the extraction further.
The emergence of the second batch of four boys on Monday evening was greeted with a simple "Hooyah" by the SEAL team on their Facebook page, an exclamation that lit up Thai social media. Positive medical reports on the rescued group further fuelled the sense of joy and optimism. "All eight are in good health, no fever... everyone is in a good mental state," Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk, permanent secretary of the public health ministry, said at Chiang Rai hospital where the boys were recuperating on Tuesday morning.
But the early signs on the initial eight were promising, with X-rays and blood tests showing just two had signs of pneumonia and that they were in a "normal state" after taking antibiotics, Jedsada said. Some had even asked for "bread and chocolate spread", he added. Following a similar pattern as the previous two days, the divers ventured back into the cave at 10 am (0700 GMT) on Tuesday, Narongsak told reporters.
However, unlike Sunday and Monday when only four were brought out each day due to logistical constraints, rescuers would try to extract all of the remaining five in one operation, Narongsak said. A doctor and three SEALS who had stayed with the footballers would also come out on Tuesday, he added. The escape route was a challenge for even experienced divers.
