Rescue Operation For Thai Soccer Players Trapped In Cave Underway

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Thai soccer players trapped in a cave. A former Thai navy SEAL died on Friday morning during a mission, delivering oxygen to the group.

“fellow trail runner and former Thai Navy SEAL, Saman Kunan, passed away this morning while in Chiang Rai helping the rescue efforts at #Thamluangcave” ☹️
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Run In Paradise good sir! pic.twitter.com/xjEJ7X2ptJ

— JAG Lanante (@JAGLanante) July 6, 2018

Former Sgt. Saman Kunan, who was working as a volunteer alongside rescuers, died between 1 and 2 a.m. Friday local time.

SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookongkaew said Kunan died placing oxygen canisters underwater along the route to the stranded boys. The Evening Standard notes this is the current method for replenishing air supply in the cave, where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since June 23. Kunan passed out and efforts to resuscitate him failed.

Ugh. What an amazing person. My heart breaks for him and his family. He wasn’t required to put his life on the line. He did it because he wanted to. He’s a hero.

Still, the team is trapped, and worries of coming monsoon rain puts them on the clock. The Tham Luang Nang Non cave could totally flood. The rescue team has been trying to pump the water out, but that’s only a temporary solution. Unless of course they could pump out enough water for the boys to escape by foot before more rain comes. Otherwise, they’d have to wait until the rainy season is over, and that’s not until October. Even then, oxygen is an issue. They could also drill another exit outside of the cave, but that comes with the risk of compromising the structure of the cave itself. In other words, it could collapse on them.

The boys need to get out of there. There’s one more remaining option. They could dive.

Speaking outside the cave, Governor of Chiang Rai province Narongsak Osatanakorn, who is in overall charge of the rescue, said: ‘We’re trying to pump water out, but more and more is coming in from above and below. Our biggest concern is now the weather.

‘A heavy downpour comes down into the caves like a tsunami.’

He added: The children are learning how to dive. We’d like minimum risk, but we can’t wait until it rains heavily and worsens the situation.

‘If that happens, we’ll need to reassess. The key thing is the kids’ readiness to dive. If it rains, and the situation is not good, we will try to bring the boys out.’

The Daily Mail has a graphic, showing what the boys will face when they attempt to dive out of there, and it’s legitimately one of my worst nightmares.

It’s not an easy dive, even for experts.

It takes about 11 hours for new pieces of information to reach parents. Experienced divers have to walk on rocky terrain against strong currents and swim and dive in zero visibility through a labyrinth of passages in murky water for six hours to reach the survivors. It then takes them five hours to come back out.

The good news? More help is on the way.

Two more British experts have been drafted in to the international effort to save the boys in what has been described as ‘the most complex rescue mission’ ever attempted in caves.

All that being said, the rescue operation is underway. So far, two boys have made it to safety.

FOX NEWS ALERT: First two boys emerge from cave, local officials say #ThaiCaveRescue | @Jeff_Journalist pic.twitter.com/lbmCOFBM9T

— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) July 8, 2018

The first boys are out. #ThaiCaveRescue @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/OKeYcaswPT

— Janis Mackey Frayer (@janisfrayer) July 8, 2018

I’m also seeing reports that a third boy has made it to safety as well.

BREAKING: First Two Boys Rescued from Thailand Cave as Risky Rescue Operation Underway Right Now – UPDATED: Third boy emerges in dangerous #ThaiCaveRescue https://t.co/7ZERogXQ7q pic.twitter.com/pLHLoDB8O6

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) July 8, 2018

CONFIRMED: Three boys are now out of the cave. Hero rescuers doing an incredible job ahead of schedule. #ThaiCaveRescue

— Asjad Nazir (@asjadnazir) July 8, 2018

We’ll bring you updates as they come.

h/t Daily Mail