Posted on 06/26/2018 3:58:11 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
The frantic efforts to rescue a dozen boys and their soccer coach after a heavy rainstorm flooded the entrance to a popular cave in Thailand were complicated Tuesday by muddy floodwaters as Thai Navy SEAL divers entered the muddy chambers, according to a top official.
Rain has continued to fall in the area, which has stymied attempts to pump out water from the cave area.
The cave complex extends several miles and has wide chambers and narrow passageways with rocky outcrops and changes in elevation. Still, officials have said they are hopeful the boys found a safe space away from the floods.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"I haven't slept and I hope that all of them can come out, all safe and sound," she said. "My son is a strong boy. I still have hope."
Hope some of them are found alive, but realistically, they are likely dead, unfortunately.
Hoping for a miracle.
The coach should be strung up for taking a bunch of kids spelunking.
Almost 40 years ago I was not allowed to go spelunking as I was 13 and you had to be a minimum of 16. It's probably 18 now with a signed waiver required.
Still, miracles do happen...
Let us hope so.
Do you think the date was a mistake and it’s supposed to be June 23rd? That was a Saturday and May 23rd of 2018 was a Wednesday. I think the date is obviously wrong.
Horrible
I went on a guided spelunking tours in California about 15 years ago. It was the “easy” route and my then-15 year old daughter talked me into it with her. Some of the passages were so small I was having to pull myself through with fingers and wiggling toes. I was absolutely scares Sh!tless! and had to keep telling myself to not panic. Never again. Ever.
Personally, I’d be paranoid of contracting “Caver’s Disease”.
It’s definitely something for the young. You think too much as you age.
The boys and their 25-year-old coach entered the cave in Chiang Rai province late Saturday afternoon. A mother reported that her son did not return from soccer practice that day, setting off the search.
Authorities have said footprints and handprints were found inside the cave complex, and that tourists trapped there by past floods have been rescued after the waters receded.
Prayers that they managed to find an air pocket and are still alive
My dad was a great spelunker, so I’ve been down some of those wormholes. I didn’t care for the ones where you couldn’t get full chest expansion when you took a deep breath. And you could only hope that you didn’t get an itch, because your arms were stretched out ahead of you and there wasn’t enough room to move them back to your sides. The ones I was through were just short connecting passageways between much more spacious crawlways and even bigger chambers, but I can still recall how ten yards can seem like a mile, and that was more than 50 years ago.
Don’t give up hope.
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