Thai Cave kids | All 12 boys and coach rescued from cave | visiting United

Ekkie Thump

Full Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Messages
4,358
Supports
Leeds United
Thai youth football coach takes the team on a day trip to a giant cave network where they get trapped by rising water. Family and friends hold constant vigil outside. 9 days and thousands of man hours later divers find them alive and well - though still trapped.

Don't get all that many good news stories. Can't begin to imagine the feelings of utter relief of those involved. Still work to do of course but fecking hell, what a good do!



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44688909
 
Caving gives me the willies. I almost can't bear to watch footage of it when they are in really tight spaces.
 
Great news. Must be terrifying for all of them. Nine days without eating too...

Interesting info on the rescue here, also with a live stream.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/thailand-cave-rescue/index.html

They can only bring one out at a time and it takes hours each. They had totally lost track of time.

  • Rescuer: How many of you?
  • Boys: 13 (inaudible)
  • Rescuer: 13, Brilliant! We are coming, many people are coming. Many people, we are the first.
  • Boys: Asking what day it is.
  • Rescuer: Monday, you have been here 10 days, 10 days. You are very strong, very strong. We come, ok, we come.
 
fishfingers15 said:
I think they are still stuck there and are waiting to be rescued. But I guess finding them is the bigger deal here!! Hoping for them to get rescued soon
Click to expand...

Yup.
The rescue operation would be very complex.
The caves are still flooded, so the only way out for the boys is to scuba dive.
People who scuba dives would know that diving in a cave system is probably the most difficult and dangerous.
There is no option to hit the surface in the midst of a dive. The visibility is low. Water presumably cold (thus the danger of hypothermia.) Given that the bad weather, there can also be flash floods and through-flows that are difficult to manage.
Then there is the logistical part about ensuring sufficient gas for each dive. Given the distance from the entrance of the cave to where they were found, I reckon the exit plan would be broken up into several dives.
I guess the rescuers would teach the boys some basic stuff such as mask clearing and clearing their ear blocks, and guide them out one by one. They would need to be confident that the boys can remain calm and not panic during the dives.

A very difficult task, but the most important thing is that they have found the boys all alive and healthy. The rescue efforts henceforth need not be rushed.
 
Grinner said:
Caving gives me the willies. I almost can't bear to watch footage of it when they are in really tight spaces.
Click to expand...

I did once for boy scouts. I never thought of claustrophobia before I went ... until then. At the narrowest point, it was like trying to crawl on your elbows in a coffin. :(
It eventually led to a big cave that was covered with bat poop.
What was interesting though were the weird types of insects you would find. Would never find/see them above ground.
 
They may all have to learn to dive or face months down there.

Mud-filled zero visibility waters, 6km in.

Incredible!

I hope they can get them out safely.

If they do, there's a Danny Boyle movie right there.
 
It's wonderful they've been found, I've been following the story. The rescuers have done a tremendous job. Getting them out is definitely going to be a major challenge - I just read that they may kit them out in full scuba gear and masks and take them one by one with a chain of rescuers, but that's a very risky operation.
 
I'm a diver but the thought of doing cave diving gives me the absolute creeps - an amazing job to even find them under the circumstances. At least they can now ferry them some food. I wonder if they will try and drain the cave system or divert it into a big chamber. tricky to decide what to do as they are expecting lots more rain to fill it up.
 
This is such an incredible story - brilliant they have been found but clearly a lot of work to do to get them free.
 
Seems like a terrible place to take a bunch of kids.

Must've been amazing finding them though.
 
Amazing result. Seems crazy to think they might have to stay in there for up to 4 months though.
 
Arruda said:
Great news. Must be terrifying for all of them. Nine days without eating too...

Interesting info on the rescue here, also with a live stream.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/thailand-cave-rescue/index.html

They can only bring one out at a time and it takes hours each. They had totally lost track of time.

  • Rescuer: How many of you?
  • Boys: 13 (inaudible)
  • Rescuer: 13, Brilliant! We are coming, many people are coming. Many people, we are the first.
  • Boys: Asking what day it is.
  • Rescuer: Monday, you have been here 10 days, 10 days. You are very strong, very strong. We come, ok, we come.
Click to expand...
is the rescuer Trump?
 
Honest John said:
They may all have to learn to dive or face months down there.

Mud-filled zero visibility waters, 6km in.

Incredible!

I hope they can get them out safely.

If they do, there's a Danny Boyle movie right there.
Click to expand...
How did they manage to get that far in? :eek:
 
GloryHunter07 said:
How did they manage to get that far in? :eek:
Click to expand...

Not sure but the map on the BBC is scaled and shows the entrance along with where they are. I think they kept going higher to avoid the rising water. I don't think the whole journey is completely submerged.
 
Last edited:
Great effort from all involved; the rescuers for managing to find them in horrendous conditions and the kids and coach for surviving in said conditions. They've apparently been given four months' worth of supplies as the authorities are not sure how quickly they'll be able to get them out, but hopefully the knowledge they've been located and people are working to free them will get them through.
 
Last edited:
To be noted that they're still not rescued yet, and could be weeks/months before they're pulled out. Still a long way to go.
 
12OunceEpilogue said:
They've apparently been given four months' worth of supplies as the authorities are not sure how quickly they'll be able to get them out, but hopefully the knowledge they've been located and people are working to free them will get them through.
Click to expand...

Incredible to think some brave sods have managed to shift 4 months worth of supplies for 13 people through zero visibility waters like that. Absolute heroes.
 
I wonder where they all go to the toilet down there, can't be the best of conditions!

I really don't think I could manage it.
 
Kentonio said:
Incredible to think some brave sods have managed to shift 4 months worth of supplies for 13 people through zero visibility waters like that. Absolute heroes.
Click to expand...

I must admit listening to the story this morning I was already thinking of how they'll go about assembling the screenplay for the film. As trivial as it sounds the awesome human ingenuity seemed cinematic to me.
 
The whole thing is terrifying. They must have been sat there, mostly with no food and no light for days. Just hoping something would change. It's such a specialised rescue though, the combination of caving/diving and the willingness of those who went in without knowing if there was anyone left to rescue is just extraordinary.

Now they know where they are, I guess they can start sending other kinds of people to them, like medical crew who can help them so they can start safely eating again. It reminds me of that Chilean mine rescue where it looked impossible that anyone would be seen again. You can only hope it's now on its way to the best possible happy ending.
 
They have found them and there is footage from inside the cave. I don't understand why they plan to keep them in there for the next 4 months, until the end of the rainy season, or something.

If people can get in, then they can bring them out. I might be over a number of days, but I see no reason to keep them underground.

What have I misunderstood?
 
Sassy Colin said:
They have found them and there is footage from inside the cave. I don't understand why they plan to keep them in there for the next 4 months, until the end of the rainy season, or something.

If people can get in, then they can bring them out. I might be over a number of days, but I see no reason to keep them underground.

What have I misunderstood?
Click to expand...

Those that managed to reach them are some of the best cave divers around. And cave diving is highly difficult and there's a very good chance that something can go wrong based on the descriptions of the current situation in the caves, especially when dealing with kids with no diving experience. So the safest option per now might be to wait until the flooding is over or the water level dropping significantly.
 
BarstoolProphet said:
Those that managed to reach them are some of the best cave divers around. And cave diving is highly difficult and there's a very good chance that something can go wrong based on the descriptions of the current situation in the caves, especially when dealing with kids with no diving experience. So the safest option per now might be to wait until the flooding is over or the water level dropping significantly.
Click to expand...

But if you have a route to the cave, you should be able to run a cable along the route, give the boy a wet suit and aqua lung, with an experienced diver following on behind, they can follow the cable to the surface. It will take a long time, it might take a week to get them all out safely, but surely it's preferable to leaving them there for 4 months.
 
diarm said:
I imagine running away from the rising water levels after the rains had taken them by surprise.
Click to expand...

Honest John said:
Not sure but the map on the BBC is scaled and shows the entrance along with where they are. I think they kept going higher to avoid the rising water. I don't think the whole journey is completely submerged.
Click to expand...

Guardian says they were more like 2km into the cave; either way fair play to them for staying alive.
The group is between 800 metres and a kilometre below the surface, and roughly two kilometres inside the cave
Click to expand...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...in-thai-cave-could-take-months-military-warns

Apparently some of the gaps the divers had to get through meant they had to take off their breathing apparatus first. Sounds difficult to get Kids that cant swim through that.
 
I've been thinking of how difficult it must have been for the teacher there, with 12 frightened youngsters in his care and no idea whether they'll actually ever get out.
 
Penna said:
I've been thinking of how difficult it must have been for the teacher there, with 12 frightened youngsters in his care and no idea whether they'll actually ever get out.
Click to expand...
Must have been difficult. I wonder if he has taken any blame locally for the trip?
 
If they’re going to have to survive down there for a few months, providing them entertainment and a purpose to focus their mind on is almost as important as food and water. So while a poster above joked about them missing lessons, giving them a routine and stimulation like that could be exactly what they need.
 
Pexbo said:
If they’re going to have to survive down there for a few months, providing them entertainment and a purpose to focus their mind on is almost as important as food and water. So while a poster above joked about them missing lessons, giving them a routine and stimulation like that could be exactly what they need.
Click to expand...
They could start with some world cup games!
 
GloryHunter07 said:
Apparently some of the gaps the divers had to get through meant they had to take off their breathing apparatus first. Sounds difficult to get Kids that cant swim through that.
Click to expand...

Jesus christ, definitely sounds like they couldn't realistically get the kids out that way then.
 
They've said that one of their early priorities is to give them phone links etc to talk to their families. It's almost unimaginable just how many things they need though, from food to medical support to sanitation.

The ledge they appear to be on doesn't look big enough for them all to sleep lying down - unless there's more accessible cave behind them. I think now that first route is established, they'll be working fast though. With any luck they'll find a way to reach them that they can actually take the kids out through. It sounds like they feel taking kids out through the current route is a last resort.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.