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As it happenedended1530663049

Thailand cave rescue - LIVE: Latest updates as medics reach 12 boys and football coach trapped underground

Harry Cockburn,Tom Embury-Dennis
Tuesday 03 July 2018 17:37 BST
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Boys found alive in cave in Thailand

Thai Navy SEALs say medics have now reached the 12 boys and their football coach after they were found alive in a cave in northern Thailand.

SEAL commander rear admiral Arpakorn Yookongkaew said seven members of his unit - including a doctor and a nurse - are now with the group.

Rescuers are racing to pump water from the Tham Luang Nang Non Cave before the predicted arrival of heavy rain, which would complicate efforts to free the team, who have been trapped 1km underground for the last 10 days.

But it is thought the boys, who cannot swim, will either have to learn to swim and then to scuba dive through very narrow passages, or face waiting as long as four months for waters to subside.

Mr Yookongkaew told a news conference his team members "have given the boys food, starting from easily digested and high-powered food with enough minerals".

He said that having the boys dive out of the cave was one of several options being considered. If it were employed, he said they "have to be certain that it will work and have to have a drill to make that it's 100 percent safe".

In video shot by British divers as the group were found, torchlight reveals boys in shorts and red and blue shirts in an underground cavern beside an expanse of water.

Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures

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With the onset of the rainy season, Thai navy captain Anand Surawan had initially warned the group could be trapped for months.

"[We will] prepare to send additional food to be sustained for at least four months and train all 13 to dive while continuing to drain the water,” he said.

Police have said the 25-year-old football coach who led the team into the cave network could face legal action.

An international team of divers, including from Britain, struggled through narrow passages and murky waters to find the boys, aged between 11-16, and their coach late on Monday night on an elevated rock about 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave.

Care packages dropped for boys missing in Thailand cave

"How many of you are there - 13? Brilliant," a member of the multinational rescue team, speaking in English, tells the boys. "You have been here 10 days. You are very strong."

News of the boys' survival sparked jubilation in a nation that has been gripped by the harrowing drama.

"Thank you," one of the boys says.

One boy asks when they will get out, to which the rescuer answers: "Not today. You have to dive."

The boys were found in weak condition, but with only minor injuries.

Interior minister Anupong Paochinda said rescuers needed to intensify efforts to reduce water levels in the cave.

Rain continued to fall in Chiang Rai on Tuesday and was forecast to intensify from Wednesday.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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"It's terrible for them — they're little — but I believe that boys with a lot of strength are going to manage to be whole when they get out," the Chilean Mr Reygadas, who spent weeks trapped in a mine in 2010, told The Associated Press.

Mr Reygadas said the boys' coach will be a key figure in keeping them motivated. 

It's difficult to send them advice, he said, but "they should think only about leaving and reuniting with their families." 

Faith and prayer, as well as humor were very important to the miners at times when they doubted they would be rescued, Mr Reygadas said. 

"They shouldn't be ashamed to be scared," he said of the boys. "Because we were scared, too. Our tears also ran. Even as adult men, we cried." 

Steve Anderson3 July 2018 22:33
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The English newspapers in Thailand are reporting on the difficulty of the rescue attempt to come.

The Bangkok Post's headline was "Exit dive a perilous prospect" - referring to the possibility that monsoon rains will mean the children will have to be taught to dave to get out.

Steve Anderson4 July 2018 01:10
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We are ending our live coverage for now. Thanks for reading, and please check back later.

Steve Anderson4 July 2018 01:10

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