Eight boys rescued from Thai cave in 'good mental state', will be hospitalised for at least 7 days: Official

The first eight boys to be rescued from a Thai cave are in good mentalhealth and are now able to eat normal food, an official said Tuesday, in the clearest update on their condition so far.

"All eight are in good health, no fever," Jesada Chokedamrongsuk, permanent secretary of the public health ministry, told reporters at Chiang Rai hospital. "Everyone is in a good mental state."

According to reports, the Thai health official informed that the first four boys rescued are between the ages of 14 to 16 and two of them possibly have a lung infection but all eight are generally “healthy and smiling,” Chokedamrongsuk said.

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The official further said that the rescued boys will be in the hospital for at least seven days.

The mission which started Sunday is a race against the clock with heavy rain expected this week which would again flood the tunnels with fast-flowing, rising water.

A crack team of foreign divers and Thai Navy SEALS guided four boys on Sunday and a further four on Monday through narrow, submerged channels from the muddy bank deep inside the Tham Luang cave where they had been stranded for more than two weeks.

Asked whether the remaining four "Wild Boars" team and their coach would come out at the same time in the next rescue effort, he said: "It depends on the plan... We have set the plan for four people so if they want to take five out (at the same time), then they need to change the plan."

The operation on Monday went more smoothly than on Sunday and took two hours less as the practice became more refined, he said.

But he added rescuers may need more than 20 hours, to replan and replenish oxygen supplies, to be ready to mount the next mission.

Then it will depend on the weather. Heavy rain has struck the region intermittently over the last three days and further downpours could set back draining efforts at the cave.