Trapped Thai soccer team rescue in jeopardy.

[Guest Larstrup]

 

MAE SAI, Thailand — The high-risk mission to extract 12 boys and their soccer coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Thailand faced growing fears Friday that weekend storms could make a complicated rescue almost impossible.

Rain forecast for northern Thailand could refill the Tham Luang Nang Non cave with water, and alternate ways to bring the group out — through an opening in the mountainside above, or by drilling into the rock face — were not bearing fruit, authorities said.

The boys and their 25-year-old coach were on a dry ledge inside the cave and were being looked after by Thai Navy SEALs and trained in the basics of diving in case they have to swim to safety, but it was unlikely that the group could remain there much longer.

A former Thai SEAL lost consciousness while moving oxygen tanks underground at about 1 a.m. and could not be revived, officials said. It was the first fatality in a rescue effort that has drawn divers and volunteers from several countries and captivated people around the globe.

“Circumstances are pressuring us,” Thai SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookonkaew told a news conference. “We originally thought the boys could stay safe inside the cave for quite some time, but circumstances have changed. We have a limited amount of time.”

Arpakorn and other officials did not give a timeline for when an evacuation might begin. Getting to safety requires a roughly five-hour dive through murky waters and suffocatingly narrow passageways — difficult for even experienced divers — to a point closer to the mouth of the cave where the group could be brought out on stretchers.

“We try to set the best plan we can to bring them out,” said the provincial governor, Narongsak Osotthanakorn. “We are afraid of the weather and the oxygen in the cave, but we have to try to set the plan and find out which is the best (way).”

More than two miles inside the cave, where they are being fortified with high-protein gels and foil warming blankets, the boys have been practicing wearing diving masks and breathing under the instructions of the SEALs.

Officials say they would be accompanied by two or three rescuers each, and that not everyone would need to be evacuated at the same time.

But the boys — ages 11 to 16 — are thought to be novice swimmers at best, and frail after having spent nearly two weeks underground since they entered the cave after soccer practice June 23 and were trapped by floodwaters.

The risks of the mission became apparent with the death of the former Thai SEAL, officials said.

The rescuer, identified as 37-year-old Saman Gunan, had been moving oxygen tanks along the path that rescuers have been using to reach the boys, allowing divers to stay underwater longer during the treacherous dive.

At one tight corner known as T-junction, there is almost zero visibility, said Ivan Karadicz, a Danish diving instructor participating in the effort.

“You can only see 20 centimeters (about 8 inches) in front of you,” Karadicz said. And the point is so narrow that only one diver can usually pass at a time, meaning a boy might have to negotiate that point without the aid of a rescuer, he said.

The number of rescuers inside the cave complex, beneath a mountain in rugged, tropical Chiang Rai province, has also lowered oxygen levels for those inside.

High-powered pumps are clearing 50,000 gallons of water out of the cave every hour, helped by relatively dry weather over the past week. But rescuers have still not identified every point where water flows into the six-mile-long cave.

“We still have a lot of water at Chamber Three,” said the director of the provincial natural disaster department, Komsan Suwanampha, referring to a point closer to the mouth of cave where the SEALs have set up a base of operations, and where rescuers hope to bring the boys out by stretcher.

Narongsak, the provincial governor, said crews were looking for shafts and sinkholes that could offer a way to drill into the rock face. He said they found 18 sinkholes, one of which was about 1,300 feet deep, but drilling deeper proved impossible.

Thai officials were studying the 2010 rescue of 33 miners who were trapped when a copper mine collapsed in Chile, and brought to the surface by a capsule through a specially drilled borehole.

“We’re trying to work out how long it would take” to drill an escape hole from scratch, Narongsak said. “We used the Chilean scenario — they took two months to get people out.”

A team of experienced Thai mountain climbers — members of a community who scour hillsides collecting bird’s nests — also joined the effort to look for openings in the mountain.

Nasan Konkayan, team leader of the bird’s nest collectors, said they hiked from the top of the cave to where they believed the boys were stuck below, but could not find an opening.

“We will come back tomorrow,” Nasan said.

[Guest Larstrup]

 

[Guest Larstrup]

 

[Guest Larstrup]

Virtual reality of the challenges inside of the flooded cave. Starts at 2:00 mark. (Two days ago)

 

[MsAnn]

1 hour ago, Larstrup said:

 

MAE SAI, Thailand — The high-risk mission to extract 12 boys and their soccer coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Thailand faced growing fears Friday that weekend storms could make a complicated rescue almost impossible.

Rain forecast for northern Thailand could refill the Tham Luang Nang Non cave with water, and alternate ways to bring the group out — through an opening in the mountainside above, or by drilling into the rock face — were not bearing fruit, authorities said.

The boys and their 25-year-old coach were on a dry ledge inside the cave and were being looked after by Thai Navy SEALs and trained in the basics of diving in case they have to swim to safety, but it was unlikely that the group could remain there much longer.

A former Thai SEAL lost consciousness while moving oxygen tanks underground at about 1 a.m. and could not be revived, officials said. It was the first fatality in a rescue effort that has drawn divers and volunteers from several countries and captivated people around the globe.

“Circumstances are pressuring us,” Thai SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookonkaew told a news conference. “We originally thought the boys could stay safe inside the cave for quite some time, but circumstances have changed. We have a limited amount of time.”

Arpakorn and other officials did not give a timeline for when an evacuation might begin. Getting to safety requires a roughly five-hour dive through murky waters and suffocatingly narrow passageways — difficult for even experienced divers — to a point closer to the mouth of the cave where the group could be brought out on stretchers.

“We try to set the best plan we can to bring them out,” said the provincial governor, Narongsak Osotthanakorn. “We are afraid of the weather and the oxygen in the cave, but we have to try to set the plan and find out which is the best (way).”

More than two miles inside the cave, where they are being fortified with high-protein gels and foil warming blankets, the boys have been practicing wearing diving masks and breathing under the instructions of the SEALs.

Officials say they would be accompanied by two or three rescuers each, and that not everyone would need to be evacuated at the same time.

But the boys — ages 11 to 16 — are thought to be novice swimmers at best, and frail after having spent nearly two weeks underground since they entered the cave after soccer practice June 23 and were trapped by floodwaters.

The risks of the mission became apparent with the death of the former Thai SEAL, officials said.

The rescuer, identified as 37-year-old Saman Gunan, had been moving oxygen tanks along the path that rescuers have been using to reach the boys, allowing divers to stay underwater longer during the treacherous dive.

At one tight corner known as T-junction, there is almost zero visibility, said Ivan Karadicz, a Danish diving instructor participating in the effort.

“You can only see 20 centimeters (about 8 inches) in front of you,” Karadicz said. And the point is so narrow that only one diver can usually pass at a time, meaning a boy might have to negotiate that point without the aid of a rescuer, he said.

The number of rescuers inside the cave complex, beneath a mountain in rugged, tropical Chiang Rai province, has also lowered oxygen levels for those inside.

High-powered pumps are clearing 50,000 gallons of water out of the cave every hour, helped by relatively dry weather over the past week. But rescuers have still not identified every point where water flows into the six-mile-long cave.

“We still have a lot of water at Chamber Three,” said the director of the provincial natural disaster department, Komsan Suwanampha, referring to a point closer to the mouth of cave where the SEALs have set up a base of operations, and where rescuers hope to bring the boys out by stretcher.

Narongsak, the provincial governor, said crews were looking for shafts and sinkholes that could offer a way to drill into the rock face. He said they found 18 sinkholes, one of which was about 1,300 feet deep, but drilling deeper proved impossible.

Thai officials were studying the 2010 rescue of 33 miners who were trapped when a copper mine collapsed in Chile, and brought to the surface by a capsule through a specially drilled borehole.

“We’re trying to work out how long it would take” to drill an escape hole from scratch, Narongsak said. “We used the Chilean scenario — they took two months to get people out.”

A team of experienced Thai mountain climbers — members of a community who scour hillsides collecting bird’s nests — also joined the effort to look for openings in the mountain.

Nasan Konkayan, team leader of the bird’s nest collectors, said they hiked from the top of the cave to where they believed the boys were stuck below, but could not find an opening.

“We will come back tomorrow,” Nasan said.

Is there any explanation at all for why someone in authority allowed the boys to go into, and explore the cave in the first place?

[Guest Larstrup]

28 minutes ago, MsAnn said:

Is there any explanation at all for why someone in authority allowed the boys to go into, and explore the cave in the first place?

 I’m not sure anyone has covered that part of the story yet. But it’s a really great question. I’ve been following this for a few days now  and no one that I follow has asked that question. 

Since there is such a solid following of the boys from Thailand here,  I’m surprised no one has posted about this before. But it really doesn’t matter where they’re from.

It’s a heart wrenching story with the possibility of it getting worse.

 

 

[paulsf]

There is signage at the opening of the cave that says basicly,  Danger in caves from water from July-September.  It was June when they entered.   I don’t know if anybody knows the why’s of this happening, but let’s get them safely home then figure it out. 

Im not in Bangkok right now, but have been talking to friends everyday. The country is gripped by the story. Chang Rai is over 400 miles from Bangkok.  

[AdamSmith]

Speaking as a [pseudo]engineer, I fear a very, very, very bad outcome. 

[TotallyOz]

3 hours ago, MsAnn said:

Is there any explanation at all for why someone in authority allowed the boys to go into, and explore the cave in the first place?

This is the question on social media in Thailand. First, Thai law requires one adult per every 10 kids for trips. But, this was just an after practice excursion.  Just remember the coach is only 25 and a kid himself and this was part of an initiation that previous teams had done.

 

2 hours ago, Larstrup said:

 I’m not sure anyone has covered that part of the story yet. But it’s a really great question. I’ve been following this for a few days now  and no one that I follow has asked that question. 

Since there is such a solid following of the boys from Thailand here,  I’m surprised no one has posted about this before. But it really doesn’t matter where they’re from.

It’s a heart wrenching story with the possibility of it getting worse.

The Thai media is all over this day and night and constant updates. But, this is a tough situation and I don't know the end result. I am surprised they found them alive as many had assumed that would not be the case. Now, they need to find another miracle and get them all out safely.  However, as one experienced Navy Seal diver died yesterday coming out of the cave, it is not going to be an easy task.

[AdamSmith]

There is actually a shit-ton of drilling technology available that could get them out just about right now.

It is horribly expensive.

HMM.

[AdamSmith]

Let me say it again: They could be drilled out right now today, if anybody would spend the money.

[MsAnn]

First boy being extracted today. This is good news!

[paulsf]

NBC is saying 2 boys are out and in ambulances on the way to the hospital.

[Guest Larstrup]

!!!!!

[Guest Larstrup]

Not a peep from this monstrous president about these boys in the two weeks they’ve been trapped. Now that the rescue mission is proving successful he’s sticking his nose in it to take some credit.

absolutely disgusting.

[Guest Larstrup]

WAPO Correction:

 

[RA1]

35 minutes ago, Larstrup said:

Not a peep from this monstrous president about these boys in the two weeks they’ve been trapped. Now that the rescue mission is proving successful he’s sticking his nose in it to take some credit.

absolutely disgusting.

Are you equating Trump with the US government?  Obviously they are not the same.  I guess hate, whether founded or unfounded, has no limits.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest Larstrup]

1 hour ago, RA1 said:

Are you equating Trump with the US government?  Obviously they are not the same.  I guess hate, whether founded or unfounded, has no limits.

Best regards,

RA1

Everything that Donald Trump does and says is for his own personal self-aggrandizement and enrichment. He doesn't give a rats ass about the boys in that cave, any more than he does about the nearly 3,000 children in detention centers across the nation, whom he intentionally separated from their parents with no intent of ever reuniting. Only now that a federal judge has stepped in and ordered their reunification, can we truly see how malicious and calculated his policy was/still is. I could go on, but I'm sure you're following this president's daily actions with a keen eye. So no need.

If there was ever any one to hate in this world. This president is it.

 

 

[Guest Larstrup]

3 hours of underwater swimming from ledge to entrance. 

[RA1]

1 hour ago, Larstrup said:

Everything that Donald Trump does and says is for his own personal self-aggrandizement and enrichment. He doesn't give a rats ass about the boys in that cave, any more than he does about the nearly 3,000 children in detention centers across the nation, whom he intentionally separated from their parents with no intent of ever reuniting. Only now that a federal judge has stepped in and ordered their reunification, can we truly see how malicious and calculated his policy was/still is. I could go on, but I'm sure you're following this president's daily actions with a keen eye. So no need.

If there was ever any one to hate in this world. This president is it.

 

 

Actually I don't follow Trump very much at all.  I don't read tweets, his or anyone else's.  Much of what I read about Trump is on this web site.  Hitler and some others of his ilk deserved the vitriol you use but not Trump.  You can dislike him all you want and it is your Constitutional right to state that dislike.  I am hoping that venting makes you feel better.

Best regards,

RA1

[MsAnn]

2 hours ago, Larstrup said:

Not a peep from this monstrous president about these boys in the two weeks they’ve been trapped. Now that the rescue mission is proving successful he’s sticking his nose in it to take some credit.

absolutely disgusting.

He's a coward. They're not part of his tribe, so he doesn't care about them.

[Guest Larstrup]

2 hours ago, RA1 said:

Actually I don't follow Trump very much at all. 

I don't read tweets, his or anyone else's.  Much of what I read about Trump is on this web site.  Hitler and some others of his ilk deserved the vitriol you use but not Trump.  You can dislike him all you want and it is your Constitutional right to state that dislike.  I am hoping that venting makes you feel better.

 

I OTOH have been following Trump like a hawk for the past two years. I’m not clear which vitriol you find misplaced toward him in my posts. Being uninformed or misinformed about what this president has already done and continues to do, not only to the detriment of our democracy and its governing institutions,  but also our foreign policies toward and (now) against many of our long–standing allies; is exactly what this president relies upon to further his governance of undermining constitutional order. We’re also now beginning to see the isolation of the United States from the global relationships which we have always relied upon and benefited from and the critical marketplace which those relationships shape and represent.

 I long for the days when I could wake up in the morning and not worry about what the President of United States was going to do or say next. But those are not the times we’re living in anymore. The corruption and criminality in this administration is staggering. And what we  learn in the months to come, is more likely than not going to further sicken and disgust the American people.

so yes, I’ll keep venting, as you say. And no, it doesn’t make me feel better about it in the slightest. 

[paulsf]

According to the Bangkok Post, 3 boys and the coach are the ones out so far. It’s reported the coach was very weak because he gave most of his food to the boys. 

[TotallyOz]

A fifth boy has been rescued. That leaves 8 to go!

[TotallyOz]

4 more out today. That leaves 4 boys and 1 coach.