Thai boys wave to camera in first video since cave rescue
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Eighteen days after entering the caves on a team-bonding session, the remaining lost boys and their coach, as well as all rescue and medical personnel, emerged alive and well on Tuesday, following a daring and precarious operation, which saw one volunteer Navy seal lose his life.
Narongsak Osatanaskorn, the former governor who has led the rescue, made the official announcement at 9.45pm on Tuesday evening, after a tense few days of rescue missions.
“I never imagined this could happen – but we did it. We completed mission impossible,” the beaming rescue chief told a throng of hundreds of reporters and support crew, before stepping forth and inviting the crowd to join him and pose for photos.
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The team of expert divers from Thailand and around the world completed their improbable mission some 60 hours after a round-the-clock operation was launched on Sunday morning, as seasonal monsoon rains threatened to trap the boys and their coach inside the caves for months.
The 13 were stranded on a 10-square-metre ledge more than a mile inside the cave without proper food, water, sanitation or sunlight, until they were discovered by a pair of British divers on 2 July.
Conditions improved somewhat after rescuers made contact but fears about poor oxygen levels and the ominous monsoon kept the watching world on edge.
The jubilant rescue chief announced that the families of the five who came out of the cave today would be able to visit their loved ones this evening – a reversal on the previous two batches of four to emerge, who had to wait 24 hours to see theirs.
Gobchai Boon-orrana, the deputy director of Thailand’s department of disaster prevention and mitigation, was equally elated in addressing the crowd.
Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures
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“Today, I don’t want to talk about work,” he announced.
One of the lead hands on the mission, Mr Gobchai referred to those rescued as his “13 grandsons.”
He joked that Thailand now had a new internationally famous tourist attraction, following wall-to-wall coverage of the cave rescue right around the globe.
Finally, he paid tribute to Saman Gunan, the 38-year-old Navy Seal who lost his life in the caves leading up the eventual rescue, declaring him a hero of the Thai people and the world.
“May he rest in peace – the hero of Thung Luam,” Mr Gobchai said.
Jedsada Chokdumrongsuk, permanent secretary at the Public Health Ministry, said that recovery for the children is being carefully managed
"The kids are footballers so they have high immune systems," Mr Jedsada said. "Everyone is in high spirits and are happy to get out. But we will have a psychiatrist to evaluate them."
It could be at least seven days before they can be released from hospital, Mr Jesada told a news conference.
Mr Jedsada said they were uncertain what type of infections the boys could face "because we have never experienced this kind of issue from a deep cave."
A doctor and three Thai Navy Seals who stayed with the boys after they were found have now emerged from the cave, the leader of the rescue mission has said, effectively bring the operation to an end.
The team have spent six days in the cave, 1.5 miles inside the network of tunnels. They have been providing medical care, teaching the boys how to dive, and remaining on-hand in case of emergencies.
Payap Maiming, 40, who helped provide food and necessities to rescue workers and journalists, said a "miracle" had happened with the rescue.
"I'm happy for Thais all over the country, for the people of Mae Sai, and actually just everyone in the world because every news channel has presented this story and this is what we have been waiting for," she told CBS News.
Amporn Sriwichai, an aunt of the rescued coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, said she was happy and excited. "If I see him, I just want to hug him and tell him that I missed him very much," she said.
Tesla founder Elon Musk has hit back after Thai authorities said they did not not need the mini-submarine he offered to help with the rescue attempt because it was "not practical".
Portuguese club Benfica has invited 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach who were rescued from a cave in Thailand to spend an all-expenses-paid week at its training academy.
Club president Luis Filipe Vieira wrote to the Thai ambassador to Portugal to invite the boys to the camp in Seixal across the River Tagus from the capital, a club statement said on Tuesday.
"We believe this simple gesture can help these faces recover the joy and smiles that no child should ever lose," Vieira said in the letter.
The academy is no stranger to celebrities. Pop star Madonna lives in the Portuguese capital Lisbon and her 12-year-old son last year started training at the academy.
Health officials say the boys will likely to remain in a quarantine for seven days because of their weakened immune systems.
Authorities will likely look for signs of Histoplasmosis, also known as "cave disease."It's an infection caused by breathing in spores of a fungus often found in bird and bat droppings, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The first eight boys who were rescued on Sunday and Monday seem to be healthy.
Local residents have been quick to praise the rescuers.
"I want to tell the coach thank you so much for helping the boys survive this long," said one Chiang Rai woman wearing a traditional dress told Reuters, tears brimming in her eyes.
"I remember all of their faces, especially the youngest one. He's the smallest one and he doesn't have as much experience as the others... I felt like he was one of my own children and I wanted him to come home."
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