Distraught relatives of the teenage members of a soccer team trapped in a flooded cave complex in Thailand turned to prayer on Tuesday as caving enthusiasts helped military rescue teams on the third day of the search.
The 12 boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach, were trapped on Saturday after heavy rain flooded the cave complex in a forest park in the northern province of Chiang Rai.
Relatives placed fruit, desserts, sugary drinks and sweets on mats near the cave as an offering to the spirits that some people believe protect the cave and the forest.
“Come home,” cried one distraught mother. “Mummy is here to pick you up.”
We must find the children today. We have hope that they are alive somewhere in there.– Narongsak Osottanakorn , provincial governor
The cave network stretches 10 kilometres into the mountain and rescue workers believe the boys are stuck in a chamber of the network but efforts to find them have been hampered by rising waters.
Pumps have been brought in to try to drain some of the water from the cave but rain has been falling intermittently over the area.
“We must find the children today. We have hope that they are alive somewhere in there,” provincial governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told Reuters.
Search for cave entrances
Maj.-Gen Nathawut Junhanandana, an army commander on the rescue team, said about 90 soldiers were searching the forested slopes of the mountain, looking for shafts or any other hidden ways into the caves.
“Our team is looking around the mountain for potential entrances,” Nathawut told Reuters. “This will uncover more ways, possibly, for a rescue.”
Media reported that British caver Vern Unsworth, who has been inside the cave many times, had joined the search, while up to six Thai civilians who have explored the cave extensively were also helping, police at the scene told Reuters.
Rescue workers continue the search on Tuesday, as electricians extend a power line into a flooded cave. (Tassanee Vejpongsa/Associated Press)
Thailand’s Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning described Tham Luang cave as “awaiting exploration from tourists because most have had to retreat when faced with many obstacles and difficulties in the cave.”
The cave is usually closed during the rainy season, which runs from May to October, it said.
A sign posted near the entrance to the cave warns visitors that it is prone to flooding between July and November.
Among those waiting at the mouth of the cave for news were three teammates who skipped Saturday’s expedition to the cave after soccer practice because their parents told them to come home, according to local media reports.
The boys’ bicycles and soccer boots were found at the mouth of the caves after they went missing. A 17-member navy unit including divers and underwater drones has joined the search.
Rescuers have covered about 6 kilometres of the cave network, said Damrong Hanpakdeeniyom, the head of the park, adding that visitors are usually only allowed to venture in about 700 metres.
