Posted on 07/03/2018 6:51:18 AM PDT by BenLurkin
A top Thai official said Tuesday that heavy rains forecast for the coming days could worsen floods in the mountain cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach were located after being missing for more than a week, forcing authorities to speed up their extraction.
... Officials said Tuesday that the boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach were mostly in stable medical condition and have received high-protein liquid food.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda, a member of the country's ruling military junta, said Tuesday that the boys may need to swim out using diving equipment ahead of bad weather forecast for later in the week. He said the boys would be brought out via the same complicated route through which their rescuers entered. While efforts to pump out the floodwaters would continue, Anupong said it's clear some areas of the sprawling cave cannot be drained and that in order to get out, the boys may need to use diving gear while being guided by two professional divers each. He conceded that if something went awry, it could be disastrous.
"Diving is not easy. For people who have never done it, it will be difficult, unlike diving in a swimming pool, because the cave's features have small channels," he said. "If something happens midway, it could be life-threatening."
...
Cave rescue experts have said it could be safer to simply supply them where they are for now, rather than attempting to have the boys dive out. That could take as long as months, however, given that Thailand's rainy season typically lasts through October.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
>> Short distances with trained rescuers should be a snap <<
Maybe. But I kinda doubt that four kilometers would be considered a “short distance” by the experts.
Sounds like the cave system filled with water after the sought refuge in it. I could see that happening to anyone no matter how prepared they were.
“Short distances with trained rescuers should be a snap.”
If this was me, they would have to either knock me out or load me up on anti-anxiety meds. There would be no way I could do something like this.
Now if I were 16, this would be fun even though the circumstances aren’t.
A movie in the making.
Good illustration!
I think the key to understanding the danger is to see the first (or last, in their case) restriction where it says “Passage is too narrow for diver to wear oxygen tank”.
Depending on how narrow and how long this passage is, is it possible to widen, or do they just need to bring them here, and figure out the quickest way to get them through?
It’s amazing how many times I’ve seen things like that happen on FR. :)
We are going to have to do a lot of praying for them:(Poor Kids.
Perhaps Give the boys a dose of some anti anxiety med like Ativan.
“Passage is too narrow for diver to wear oxygen tank”
I noticed that too. Once upon a time I was a girl scout. Even if my troop leader were Jesus Christ himself, I would not have followed past that first narrow passage.
Brave boys. Brave rescuers. Praying for them all.
Maybe it would make more sense to put them to sleep, then transport them out.
It's been done. This one is from 1951, complete with complicated rescue plans and media circus...
Me too. I had one that was verbatim to another post once.
I was thinking the same thing...and yes...GMTA.
How about this movie, with Shelley Winters showing everyone the way?
Thanks! I’ll have to track that one down.
Ever been on a night dive? It’s a little spooky the first time esp when the instructor turns off his light.
For real excitement get tangled in barbed wire 30 ft down in murky water. 30 ft is a shallow dive but tangled up with no visibility is a real heart pounding experience. This happened yrs ago while salvaging a boat in the Ozarks.
It’s a lot more fun to dive in the South China Sea. Visibility 100 plus ft and beautiful coral. Note: avoid jellyfish and moral eels who will chase you.
How the heck did they wind up way back there?
Does anyone know how this coach and these children got into this predicament?
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