Four of 12 Thai soccer team who became stranded with their soccer coach more 16 days ago in a flooded cave were removed from the underground complex in northern Thailand on Sunday and rushed to hospital, officials said.
The area outside the Chiang Rai hospital, about 50 kilometres from the cave complex, was cordoned off by police. Down the street, vendors were told by loud speaker to “keep off the road” and to “not obstruct the transfer mission.”
The operation to rescue the boys, ages 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach by having them dive out of the Tham Luang Nang Non cave began earlier in the day, with expert divers embarking on the complicated and dangerous mission.
“Today we managed to rescue and send back four children to Chiang Rai Prachanukrua Hospital safely,” Narongsak told a news conference. “It’s a big success of all teams. We have thousands of people helping us with the operation.”
The healthiest were taken out first, officials told reporters.
The governor, who is heading the operation, said about 90 divers — including 50 foreigners and 40 Thais — were involved in Sunday’s recovery, which went “better than expected.”
Some divers escorted the boys, while others were positioned along the dangerous first kilometre stretch, where the boys had to navigate through submerged passageways in some places no more than 60 centimetres wide.