Thailand rescue live: Mission to save all trapped could take three or four days, says rescue mission official

The mission to save all the trapped could take three or four days, officials have said, a race against the clock with heavy rain expected this week which would again flood the tunnels with fast-flowing, rising water.

The Thai navy SEAL unit, which has been overseeing the rescue, confirmed on its Facebook page that the total number of boys brought out was eight.

The rescue operation has been halted for the night.

Thai commandos brought out the fourth boy today from the Thai cave, as eight boys were rescued since Sunday as rescue efforts reached a climax on Monday afternoon. 

Earlier in the day, four more boys were brought out in a huge rescue drive.

13 boys were trapped in the Thai cave since June 23, on Sunday four boys were pulled out by Thai SEALs. With night descending, rescue operations have slowed.

The Thai rescue operation is in full swing after reports said two more boys were pulled out from the cave on Monday afternoon after one boy was rescued earlier.

Thailand Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda told reporters the four boys rescued yesterday were in good health in hospital but he did not give out details. The boys' parents have not been allowed to meet them

Chiang Rai's acting governor and the head of the rescue mission, Narongsak Osottanakorn, had said last week that the fittest boys in the group would be brought out first. Parents of the trapped children were told the same thing

The rescue effort is expected to take another 3 to 4 days. The biggest fear is more rains which might cut off the 8 boys and their football coach still in the cave but so far, the rains have held off today

Weather reports however say rain is expected in Chiang Rai today

News reports quoted a number of officials with knowledge of the rescue operations as saying the rescue effort had resumed. There was however no official confirmation

Divers have re-entered the Thang Luam cave complex to rescue the 8 boys and their football coach who are still stuck inside the Thang Luam cave complex

News reports said rescue operations are expected to begin around 4 to 5 pm Thailand time. (Thailand is one-and-a-half hours ahead of India time.) 

But the threat of further monsoon rains continues to threaten to drown out the cave complex and make the job of rescuing the boys and their coach impossible 

While Thailand, and the world, celebrated in jubilation after the rescue of the four boys — there are still nine people left in the cave. Eight boys and their 25-year-old football coach. 

News reports had earlier said the coach had been a Buddhist monk. And that he could meditate for up to an hour, which is what might have helped him survive. 

Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said Sunday night that rescue operations would resume after a break of 10 to 20 hours

Four boys among a group of 13 trapped in a flooded Thai cave for more than a fortnight were rescued on Sunday after surviving a treacherous escape, raising hopes elite divers would also save the others soon.

The rescued boys emerged as night fell from the Tham Luang cave complex after divers guided them along a route of more than four kilometres (2.5 miles) that included twisting, extremely narrow and jagged passageways filled with water.

Their escape led to an explosion of jubilation on social media in Thailand as the rescued boys were rushed to hospital. 

But the survival of those remaining in the cave is far from guaranteed with extraction efforts put on hold until Monday morning to allow rescue divers time to resupply.  

Rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said the four who escaped were "safe" but released few details about their condition or identities.

Footage released by authorities showed groups of soldiers carrying what appeared to be two of the boys on stretchers into the back of waiting ambulances which then sped off for a nearby hospital.

The group became trapped in a cramped chamber deep inside Tham Luang in a mountainous area of northern Thailand on June 23, when they went in after football practice and got caught behind rising waters after a torrential downpour.

Their plight transfixed Thailand and the rest of the world, as authorities struggled to locate them and then devise a plan to get the boys -- aged between 11 and 16 -- and their 25-year-old coach out.

The group was found dishevelled and hungry by British cave diving specialists nine days after they ventured in.

Initial euphoria over finding the boys alive quickly turned into deep anxiety as rescuers struggled to find a way to get them out.

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. 

'D-Day'
Foreign elite divers and Thai Navy SEALS were forced to begin the complex operation to extract the boys earlier than they had hoped on Sunday morning because forecast rainfall was threatening more flooding that might doom the mission.

"Today is the D-day. The boys are ready to face any challenges," Narongsak told reporters near the cave site on Sunday morning.

The rescue of the initial batch of boys was a stunning victory in an operation Narongsak had earlier dubbed "Mission Impossible" and led to cautious optimism that the others would also be saved.

Narongsak described the extraction of the initial group of four as "smooth".

But efforts to get the others out were put on hold until Monday morning to give rescue workers time to replenish stocks of oxygen and other supplies.

"We need to refill," Narongsak said. 

Experts say a rescue mission through a flooded cave is dangerous enough for professionals, let alone young boys who have never dived before.

"It is an extremely risky undertaking," Bill Whitehouse, vice chairman of the British Cave Rescue Council, told AFP, adding "poor visibility in the water, tortuous passages to get through, constrictions" were some of the major obstacles divers face.

Treacherous journey
Narongsak said two divers would escort each of the boys out of the cave. Ropes have also been installed to help guide the boys through the darkness.

Authorities had looked at many different ways to save the boys and their coach.

One early potential plan was to leave them there for months until the monsoon season ended and the floods subsided completely, but that idea was scrapped over concerns about falling oxygen levels and waters rising too high.

More than 100 exploratory holes were also bored into the mountainside in an attempt to open a second evacuation route and avoid forcing the boys into the dangerous dive.

American technology entrepreneur Elon Musk even deployed engineers from his private space exploration firm SpaceX and Boring Co. to help.

Meanwhile rescuers fed a kilometres-long air pipe into the cave to restore oxygen levels in the chamber where the team was sheltering with medics and divers.

Thais were quick to jump onto social media on Sunday night to celebrate the rescue of the initial four.

"The rescue team of the Wild Boars should be given this year's World Cup trophy," one person wrote on Facebook, referring to the boys by the name of their football team. 

(AFP)