Chiang Rai News
British and US Join in Search for Missing School Boys at Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai
CHIANG RAI – While distraught relatives and friends gathered at the mouth of the cave, rescue workers at Tham Luang cave continue to pump out water, but persistent heavy rain has slowed their progress.
“Water is the biggest challenge. There is a lot of debris and sand that gets stuck while pumping,” Army officer Sergeant Kresada Wanaphum told Reporters.
U.S. forces and British caving experts have arrived at the cave to help in the search for 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach believed trapped by floodwaters in a cave, as rescuers prepared to drill a shaft into the cave on the fifth day of the search.
Major Buncha Duriyapan, commander of the 37th Military District in Chiang Rai, said workers would drill down from the top of the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Chiang Rai province to create an alternative entrance for rescue workers.
“We will drill down from one of the chimneys,” Buncha told reporter.
Richard William Stanton (2nd-L), Robert Charles Harper (3rd-L) and John Volanthen (R) arrive at Tham Luang cave.
“The expert divers from the UK’s Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organization went straight from the plane into the cave to make an assessment,” he said.
While 30 soldiers from the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) in Hawaii come with with equipment to help penetrate the cave walls.
While around 1,000 navy “seals” divers, police, soldiers, border guards and officials have been mobilized for the around-the-clock rescue at the caves.
Search efforts, which have included Thailand’s elite navy SEAL unit, have been hampered by heavy rain and flooding inside the cave where the boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach went missing on Saturday.
U.S. military personnel come out from Tham Luang cave complex during a search for members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, June 28, 2018. – Photo Soe Zeya Tun
Rescue workers on Thursday scoured the top of the mountain looking for alternative entrances to the cave, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.
Thai National Deputy Police Chief Wirachai Songmetta said police officers would explore a one kms path to the right of the cave on Thursday.
So far, rescue teams have been focusing on a seven kms (four mile) long route to the left of the cave’s entrance which they believe the boys and their coach took.
Authorities say they’re optimistic the boys are still alive, but the toll of five days of no news was visible on the faces of the parents and relatives of the missing children.
The Royal Thai Police have placed on standby three helicopters and three rescue teams which can be flown immediately at the first notice.
The boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach, went missing on Saturday after soccer practice when they set out to explore the Tham Luang cave complex, even though it is known to be prone to flooding in the rainy season.
Tham Luang cave is a popular draw for local visitors during the dry season, though a sign at the entrance warns tourists not to enter during the wet season from July to November.
The complex cave is infamous for being a tough site for skilled divers because of its complicated network of tunnels and pools.
By CRT, Reuters, Bangkok Post
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Additional reporting by Reuters Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Aukkarapon Niyomyat, Panarat Thepgumpanat, Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Pracha Hariraksapitak
