Trapped Thai Teens: 12 boys and coach learning scuba to escape cave

World Today

THAILAND-ACCIDENT-WEATHER-CHILDREN-CAVEA Thai soldier prepare oxygen for a diver during rescue operations for 12 boys and their coach trapped in Tham Luang cave at near Tham Luang cave at the Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province on July 4, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / YE AUNG THU)

Members of a youth football team trapped in a cave in Thailand are getting a crash course in swimming and scuba diving. It’s just one option for getting the 12 boys and their coach out of the flooded complex, which may not happen for weeks.

CGTN’s Rian Maelzer reports.

Rescuers emerged from the jungle carrying people on stretchers. Sadly, this just an exercise to train personnel to safely extract the 12 boys and their football coach.

New footage released Wednesday shows the boys appearing to be in surprisingly good spirits, wrapped in space blankets and receiving medical treatment from a doctor and nurse who are also trained divers. It’s not clear if they know that their rescue could be days, or even weeks, away.

Thailand’s interior minister was quoted as saying it’s imperative to get the boys out quickly, because rain could return and flood the cave again. Other officials have sounded much more cautious.

“We need to be 100 percent confident in order to get the boys out,” Narongsak Osottanakorn, the governor of Chian Rai Province, said. “It does not have to happen all at one time. It all depends on situation.”

THAILAND-ACCIDENT-WEATHER-CHILDREN-CAVE

Thai soldiers carry an equipment during rescue operations for 12 boys and their coach trapped in Tham Luang cave at near Tham Luang cave at the Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province on July 4, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / YE AUNG THU)

Rescuers also warn against expecting the boys to be brought out hastily, given the perilous conditions.

“The difficulty of this underwater rescue, I’m afraid, is not something recreational divers could understand,” according to Chinese rescuer Tan Xiaolong. “The complexity of it requires highly professional equipment and training. And on top of that, the diver is not diving alone, but is there to bring out a little kid who has no experience diving.”


Curt Harler talks about the difficulties of rescuing boys trapped in a cave in Thailand

CGTN’s Asieh Namdar spoke to Curt Harler, executive vice-president of the National Speleological Society, about the difficulties of rescuing a youth sports team trapped in Thailand.