Tham Luang cave rescue

Tham Luang cave rescue

Rescue personnel and equipment at the entrance of the cave
Date	23 June 2018–present
Location	Tham Luang Nang Non, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand
Coordinates	20°22′21″N 99°51′03″E
Cause	Monsoon flooding
Outcome	Children and their coach found alive after nine days. Rescue operation currently under way.
Deaths	1 rescue diver
Non-fatal injuries	Minor scrapes and cuts, mild rashes
Tham Luang Nang Non Chiang Rai Bangkok Location of Tham Luang Nang Non

The Tham Luang cave rescue is an ongoing effort to rescue a group of 12 boys aged 11 to 16 from a local association football team who became stranded, together with their 25-year-old assistant coach, in Tham Luang Nang Non (Thai: ถ้ำหลวงนางนอน; "Great Cave of the Sleeping Lady"), a cave in Thailand's Chiang Rai Province on 23 June 2018. Heavy rains partially flooded the cave during their visit on the same day. They were reported missing a few hours later, and search operations began immediately. Efforts to locate them were hampered by rising water levels, and no contact was made for over a week. The rescue effort expanded into a massive operation amid intense media coverage and public interest.

After struggles through narrow passages and muddy waters, British divers discovered the missing people, all alive, on an elevated rock about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the cave mouth, on 2 July, over nine days after they went missing. To leave the cave, they may need to learn to dive or wait months for the floodwater to subside at the end of the monsoon season.

Over 1,000 people have been involved in the rescue operation, including Thai Navy Seals as well as volunteers, teams and technical assistance from multiple countries.

A 38-year-old former Thai Navy Seal died while attempting to return after delivering supplies of air to the cave on 5 July; he ran out of air himself and could not be revived.

Disappearance

News report

Main cave entrance in heavy rain

Tham Luang Nang Non is a karstic cave complex beneath Doi Nang Non, a mountain range on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. The system is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long and has many deep recesses, narrow passages and tunnels winding under hundreds of meters of limestone strata. Since part of the cave system is seasonally flooded a sign advising against entering the caves during the rainy season (July–November) is posted at the entrance.

On 23 June 2018, a group of 12 boys aged between 11 and 16 from a local junior football team named the Wild Boars (Thai: หมูป่า; IPA: [mǔː pàː]; RTGS: Mu Pa) went missing after setting out to explore the cave with their 25-year-old coach, Ekkaphon Chanthawong (Thai: เอกพล จันทะวงษ์). The group was apparently stranded in the dark tunnels by a sudden and continuous downpour after they entered the cave. A ranger of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation alerted authorities of the missing boys after seeing their unclaimed belongings at the cave entrance.

Rescue operations

Initial searches

Rescuers looking for alternative access routes to the cave

Military divers searched the cave. A Thai Navy Seal diver said the water was so murky that even with lights they could not see where they were going underwater. Owing to continuous rain which further flooded the cave entrance the search had to be periodically interrupted. After four days the Thai Navy Seals were joined by a group of 30 personnel of the United States Pacific Command and British cave diving rescue experts Richard Stanton, John Volanthen, and Robert Harper.

Policemen with sniffer dogs searched for shaft openings throughout the range looking for alternative entrances to the cave branches below.

Contact

The 12 boys and the coach were located, all alive, on 2 July 2018, at approximately 22:00 local time. The group was discovered by Stanton and Volanthen about 400 metres (1,300 ft) beyond the "Pattaya Beach" chamber named after an above-ground beach in Thailand. Volanthen was placing guidelines in the cave to assist others in navigation. He ran out of line, which led him to swim to the surface—there, he found the missing team and its coach. The ledge where they were found is about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the cave mouth.

External videos
The first video released by Thai Navy Seal showing the children and their coach after they were found by British volunteer divers

A video of the encounter, showing the boys and their interactions with the divers, was posted on Facebook by the Thai Navy Seal. In the video, the dazed boys appear to be highly unaware of how long they had been trapped deep underground as they asked the divers what day it was.

Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn announced the development, stating "We found them safe. But the operation isn't over."

On 3 July seven divers, including a doctor and a nurse, joined the group inside the caves. Thai officials told reporters that rescuers were providing health checks and treatment, and keeping the boys entertained, adding that none of those trapped were in a serious condition. "They have been fed with easy-to-digest, high-energy food with vitamins and minerals, under the supervision of a doctor," Rear Admiral Apagorn Youkonggaew, head of the Thai Navy's Special Forces, told reporters. On this occasion, a video made by the rescue mission and shared a few hours later by the Thai Navy Seal, shows all 12 boys and their coach introducing themselves and stating their age. Wrapped in emergency blankets and appearing frail, all 12 boys and their adult coach said hello to the outside world in a brief video message. "Sawadee krap," each boy says with his palms together in wai, the traditional Thai greeting. A second video shows a medic treating their feet and gaunt legs. It is believed that many of the group cannot swim, complicating what would already be a difficult rescue.

On 4 July two more British cave-diving explorers, Jason Mallinson and Chris Jewel, flew to the region with 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) of diving equipment and the next day two highly experienced cave rescue personnel also flew from the UK to provide surface control for the UK cave diving rescuers.

Extraction operations

Pumps were used to drain water from the cave and its downstream lakes.

Rescue operations are battling rising water, and leaders have said that those trapped may either have to learn how to dive, or wait months for waters to recede. Normally, the cave system is flooded in the rainy season, which lasts until September–October.

Surveys showed flooded passages in a portion of the cave that penetrates far into the mountain. The point where the boys are stationed is about 3.75 kilometres (2.33 mi) from the entrance and 800–1,000 metres (2,600–3,300 ft) below the top of the mountain. The route to them has several flooded sections and some parts which are extremely narrow, and parts that may have strong currents and zero visibility. The journey length is six hours against the current and five hours in line with the current, even for experienced divers, and panicking during the journey could prove fatal. Teams are searching for alternative entrances to the cave system which could allow for an easier escape route. Drilling is being used as part of the attempt to help drain water, and has also been considered as a means of opening a viable escape path, though no suitable location has yet been found.

Systems were quickly installed for pumping water out of the cave system, and diverting flows which would enter it. In concert with the unusually dry weather for the time of year, these efforts were reducing water levels in the cave by 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) per hour on 5 July, resulting in rescue teams being able to walk 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) into the cave. However, heavy rains are expected on 8 July, which could halt or reverse this process, and even threaten to flood the position where the team is trapped. On 4 July 2018, it was reported the pumps used were at one point removing an estimated 1,600,000 L/h (420,000 US gal/h) in total. The Czech Republic offered to provide high performing Czech manufacturer's pumps; the state has four such pumps, each with the output of 400 liters per second (1,440,000 L/h (380,000 US gal/h)).

On 6 July 2018, the oxygen level in the cave dropped sharply, raising fears that the trapped boys may develop hypoxemia if they remain in the cave for a prolonged time period. The same day, however, an air supply line was installed into the chamber.

External image
Detailed map of the Tham Luang cave system provided by BBC News

Divers

Those conducting operations are considering having the team led out by experienced divers. This would require teaching them diving skills, and preparing them physically and mentally for an extremely difficult journey. If the water levels are sufficiently lowered, it may be possible to avoid diving altogether. An alternative option is to supply the group with what they need to stay the three or four months until the end of the rainy season and the cave dries out enough to allow them to leave without diving. At least two Thai Navy medical officers have volunteered to remain with the group during such a wait. It is expected that the weather will influence when and how operations proceed.

US National Rescue Commission coordinator Anmar Mirza, a cave rescue expert with 30 years of experience, agrees that the option of diving the team out is "incredibly dangerous" but, if the flooding situation worsens, and locating another entrance, or waiting, becomes less of an option, diving out may have to be more seriously considered. As of 5 July, teaching the boys to dive was being considered "Plan A", and some instruction had already begun.

Diversion dam

While rescue options are being considered, a stone diversion dam is being built upstream, which is expected to help lower the water level in combination with the current pumping, but has required flooding nearby farm fields. For a time, well-meaning volunteers were inadvertently pumping water back into the groundwater supply.

Operations camp

The operations camp is based in Tham Luang Forest Park, with hundreds of volunteers and journalists adding to the workers. The site is divided into several zones; restricted areas for the Thai Navy Seals, other military personnel and civilian rescuers, relatives area to give the families privacy, and general public areas.

Death of rescue worker

On 6 July 2018, at 1:00 AM ICT, 38-year-old former Thai Navy Seal Petty Officer RTGS: Saman Kunan (Thai: สมาน กุนัน) died of asphyxiation while delivering supplies to the cave. Kunan had volunteered to help with the rescue effort and was placing air tanks along the route for future missions when he ran out of air and lost consciousness during the return trip. He was returned to the surface by his dive partner, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. He will be given a royal-sponsored funeral in Bangkok.

Responses

Local

Residents of Chiang Rai province volunteered to cook and clean for, and otherwise support, the missing team's families and the rescue teams at the encampment by the cave mouth. Social media were employed to draw attention to the rescue attempts. Classmates and teachers of the team spent time chanting and praying for the boys while they were missing. Local schools have donated money to help the parents of the trapped boys to help with living costs as many parents have stopped work in order to follow the rescue attempts.

Thailand

On 29 June 2018, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visited the search site and told the families of the boys that were camping near the mouth of the cave not to give up hope.

International

Volunteers, teams and technical assistance from multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, China, Myanmar, Laos, Australia, the United States, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine, and Israel, participated in the operation.

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk offered the use of his companies' expertise and equipment, suggesting that Tesla Powerwall battery units could provide more electrical power for more powerful pumps and The Boring Company's ground-penetrating radar might help locate existing shafts.

FIFA, via a letter from Gianni Infantino to the president of the Football Association of Thailand, has invited the children and coach currently in the cave to the World Cup final if circumstances allow.

See also

• 2010 Copiapó mining accident
• Beaconsfield Mine collapse
• Cave diving
• Cave rescue
• Caving
• List of cave rescue organizations
• Riesending cave rescue
• Speleology

External links

• Media related to 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue at Wikimedia Commons
• Thai cave rescue – Ex-Navy SEAL interview (04:18; 4 July 2018; CNN-News) on YouTube