Unable to find lost boys, Thai police drop survival packages into cave

 

CHIANG RAI: As a search in northern Thailand for 12 boys and their soccer coach missing inside a flooded cave entered a sixth day on Friday, police began dropping survival packages through a shaft drilled in the mountainside not knowing if anyone was there.

The boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year old assistant coach went missing on Saturday after they decided to explore the 10-kilometre (6 mile) long Tham Luang cave complex in Chiang Rai province, despite a sign warning visitors that the maze of passages and chambers was prone to flooding.

Bicycles and soccer shoes belonging to the boys were found near the entrance, and rescue workers think handprints inside the cave could have been left by the group. But the search has so far yielded no other trace.

International rescue teams, including one sent by the United States Pacific Command (PACOM), are assisting the Thai army, navy and police in a search operation that has been hampered by heavy rain.

Heavy rains hamper rescue for children stuck in Thai cave

The young football team, aged between 11 and 16, have been stuck in the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand since Saturday night

Police have been scouring ground above in search of other ways into the cave as divers tried to find their way through the flooded passages.

Twenty packages filled with water, food, medicine, flashlights and a note addressed to the missing team were dropped down a fissure in the cave on Friday, police said.

Unsure of the boys’ location, they just hoped the boxes would reach them.

“If the children find this box we want them to float the box out of the cave,” Police Colonel Kraiboon Sotsong, commander of the police’s strategic office, told reporters.

“The note says: ‘If received, then reply and show on the map where you are. Everybody will quickly help.”

Thai PM visits cave 

The race to find the boys has gripped the Southeast Asian nation. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the site on Friday to urge on the rescuers and assure relatives keeping vigil that every effort would be made.

“Whatever can be done, do it, the government will back it,” said Prayuth. “I’m not worried about the work of the staff but I’m worried about time elapsed for those lost inside the cave,” Prayuth told officials.

“I’ve come to give everyone encouragement,” he added.

Plans to drill into the mountainside overnight to drain water from inside the vast cave complex have been partially successful.

“We were able to drill on the side,” Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn, told reporters.

Search launched for children's football team trapped in Thailand caves

The children aged between 11 and 16 entered Tham Luang cave, in a national park near the Myanmar and Laos borders, with their coach on Saturday

The 10-kilometre cave is one of Thailand’s longest. Visitors are usually only allowed up to 800 metres inside the cave, which has a reputation for being difficult to navigate.

A man who got lost inside the cave in 2002 along with four friends recalled his experience inside the “labyrinth”, saying it was a miracle he got out alive.

Exhausted family members have been keeping vigil near the cave as they await news about their loved ones.

Prayuth spoke to family members after visiting the cave.

“They’re athletes. They’re strong,” he told the boys’ relatives in an attempt to comfort them.