Thai cave rescue enters second phase

Authorities in Thailand have resumed a rescue mission to extract nine members of a boys’ football team trapped inside a flooded cave. The mission commander said he expects “good news in a few hours.”

The second phase of a delicate operation to rescue a Thai youth soccer team from a flooded cave began on Monday, officials said.

“The water level is low. The weather is good. The equipment is ready. So we decided to begin earlier than expected today,” Narongsak Osatanakorn, the governor of Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province and chief of the rescue mission, told a press briefing.

“In the next few hours we will have good news,” he said.

The announcement came a day after a group of rescuers brought four boys out of the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex in a dangerous operation that involved them diving through narrow, winding passages filled with muddy water and strong currents.

Authorities are racing to rescue the remaining eight boys and their 25-year-old coach before monsoon rains cause the floodwater to rise.

What happened in phase one:

• Four of the 12 boys were rescued in the first phase of the operation.
• The head of the rescue mission said the healthiest boys were the first to be taken out.
• The boys wore full diving face masks as a team of diving experts guided them along a 4.7-kilometer (2.9-mile) route out of the cave complex.
• The rescued boys were immediately taken to hospital to undergo medical tests.
• Officials say they are in good health but will not be allowed close contact with their relatives because of the risk of infection.

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