Thailand Soccer Youth Team Found Alive After Trapped In Cave For Several Days
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THAILAND (CNN/CBS) – There is a happy ending in the effort to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand. A government official says the group has been found alive.
The group went missing on June 23.
It's unclear if the group has been removed from the cave just yet.
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Much of the cave complex remains underwater.
Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn Osatanakorn told reporters Monday that progress had been made in opening and maintaining the narrow channels used by rescuers.
"(If) the group went to the left side, there is ... a very narrow space and very small channel. The foreign divers (carrying) equipment will not be able to pass this channel. This is the only channel to get inside," Osatanakorn said.
"So we will run two operations, opening this channel to get through and maintaining so all the rescue team can get inside and work there."
Rescuers are still attempting to drain the floodwaters, but while water inside the cave is receding, levels haven't significantly dropped at the crucial points at the third chamber and T-junction.
Several pumping machines are draining an estimated 1.6 million liters of water from the cave network every hour, Thai Military Major General Bancha Duriyapan told CNN.
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Alongside the draining operation, rescuers are working on a secondary plan to access the caves from above.
The search teams have now surveyed all possible chimneys across the mountain, Osatanakorn said, and found two chimneys that are considered potentially viable options.
One of the options has allowed the rescue teams to descend to a depth of 200 meters, and they are continuing to go deeper, he added.
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