Some members of the football team trapped in Tham Luang cave (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The first four of the 12 youngfootballers who together with their coach were trapped in the flooded ThamLuang cave of Thailand were rescued on late July 8.
Narongsak Osottanakorn, head of the rescueoperation, told reporters that they managed to rescue and send back the fourchildren to Chiang Rai Prachanukrua Hospital safely.
The boys emerged separately from the cave frombetween 5:30pm and 6pm (Thailand time), and each of them was accompanied by twodivers in the rescue effort which was launched at 10am the same day.
Rescuers planned to get the football team out ofthe cave in four groups, and the healthiest were taken out first. The rest wouldbe split into groups of three. The coach was in the last group.
A team of 90 divers, including 50 from foreigncountries were involved in the rescue effort, which is set to resume on July 9morning.
The boys – members of the Wild Boars footballteam between the ages 11 and 16 – had been exploring the cave network withtheir soccer 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.-VNA
VNA
