Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has congratulatedThailand on the successful rescue of all members of the football team trappedin a flooded cave in Chiang Rai province for over two weeks.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on July 3 sent aletter of congratulations to his Thai counterpart Prayuth Chan-o-cha and the Thaipeople on finding the 12 boys and their coach alive after being trapped in ThamLuang cave from June 23.
On July 10, Deputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh cabled a message to Thai Minister of Foreign AffairsDon Pramudwinai to share joy over the successful rescue.
He congratulated Thai relevant forces on thesuccessful conduction of the rescue mission with the effective assistance ofinternational experts and rescuers.
Minh expressed his hope that all members of thefootball team will recover quickly and soon meet their family members.
The boys – members of the Wild Boars footballteam, aged between 11 and 16 years – had been exploring the cave network withtheir football coach on June 23, when heavy seasonal rains flooded the cave'sentrance, forcing the group further and further into the labyrinth of tunnelsin search of higher ground.
They were found alive on July 2 after 10 days ofbeing trapped in the flooded cave complex.
A team of 90 divers, including 50 from foreigncountries, participated in the rescue efforts.
According to Thai Navy Seals rescuers, the lastmember of the team was brought out safely from the cave on the evening of July10.-VNA