The rescue attempt is expected to get under way later today. Journalists were asked to leave the site this morning with a new media centre set up 3km away. Thai authorities confirmed the decision was made so that a rescue operation can take place.
It will be a nervous wait when emergency workers make the descent into the caves. Without a reliable source of communication we may not know if the operation has been a success until the divers re-emerge about 12 hours later.
US and Australian divers have reportedly joined the Thai Navy as workers prepare for the rescue attempt. Among them is Adelaide anaethetist and diving expert Dr Richard Harris.
The plight of the trapped group has made news around the world since they became stranded in a cramped chamber of the Tham Luang cave complex on June 23.
Earlier, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted he was flying a “tiny, kid-sized submarine” over to Thailand after mulling over a number of different ideas to help the rescue effort.
“Primary path is basically a tiny, kid-size submarine using the liquid oxygen transfer tube of Falcon rocket as hull. Light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps. Extremely robust,” he wrote.
Previously, Musk and his tech team were discussing an “escape pod design” or “inflatable tube” to get the boys and their coach out
“Now and in the next three or four days, the conditions are perfect (for evacuation) in terms of the water, the weather and the boys’ health,” rescue operation chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said.
“We have to make a clear decision on what we can do.”
Mr Osottanakorn said officials are “still at the state of war against the water” and that no plans are perfect.
“All the plans must not have any holes in them,” he said, noting that “hundreds of people have vetted this” and “there will always be margins for error.”
He said authorities are waiting for two big groups of volunteer divers to arrive later today, after which they’ll be ready to begin the operation of bringing them out.
He says: “The plan that I’ve held on to from the beginning is that we have to bring the kids out and the determining factor of this plan is to have as little water as possible.”
He said floodwaters have been drained as much as possible, “but if it rains and adds to it again, we don’t know what other risk factors we will have to face.”
He also warned about higher carbon dioxide levels in the cave.
The young soccer coach who has been trapped for two weeks inside a partially flooded Thai cave with his team of 12 boys has apologised to the parents of the boys in a scrawled note released by the Thai Navy.
“To the parents of all the kids, right now the kids are all fine, the crew are taking good care,” Ekapol Chanthawong wrote. “I promise I will care for the kids as best as possible. I want to say thanks for all the support and I want to apologise to the parents.”
A total of seven pages were posted on the Thai Navy SEALs Facebook page, with messages apparently from each of the boys — aged 11 to 16 — and their 25-year-old coach.
Their brief notes express gratitude, love as well as dreams of food. “I want to eat pan-fried pork,” one of the boys writes.
“Don’t worry, everyone is strong”, one letter read. “When we get out of here, we want to eat many things. We want to go home as soon as possible,” adds the message.
The group has been trapped more than 4km inside the cave in northern Thailand since June 23.
well done everyone its now or never....
what these kids have been through this swim could be a walk in the park for them.......I pray it is..
love and kisses from Australia,..