Today, July 8, in Thailand started a special operation to rescue 12 students and their football coach from the depths of the cave where they are trapped for the past two weeks.
The Governor of Chiang Rai province Narongsak Oottamakorn announced Sunday by D-Day (the beginning of military operations – approx. USA.one) and said that the operation will involve 13 foreign and 5 Thai divers.
THAI CAVE RESCUE: Here are the options for the boys trapped in #ThamLuang. Tech billionaire #ElonMusk has a few other ideas https://t.co/HK9B2bpQPZ pic.twitter.com/6LcHKHPvip
— Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) July 6, 2018
Rescuers have already started for the students at 10 am local time. According to the Governor, the first one should be «released» at about 21:00.
At this time (9:00 am new York time), according to the page Thai Navy SEAL in Facebook, know about the four boys who were evacuated from the cave.
President Donald trump also noted that the U.S. government has provided its assistance to rescue the teenagers.
The U.S. is working very closely with the Government of Thailand to help get all of the children out of the cave and to safety. Very brave and talented people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2018
What are the predictions of experts?
Butch Hendrick, submarine rescue, the President and founder of Lifeguard Systems, told CNNthat the cave dive is incredibly dangerous and that even the best of them can die inside the cave.
The main confirmation of the words of Hendrik was the recent death of former Navy seal Samara Coonan, who died due to the lack of air on the 13th day of the operation.
As Hendrik said, the biggest difficulty lies in the fact that in the cave there is a strong current.
«We work in an environment where power is so great, that [divers-rescuers] are trying to figure out how to get their bodies to work and still continue to breathe,» says the professional.
If we add to this what you need to monitor the safety of the boys, it required a huge effort concluded Hendrik.
very dangerous the Thai cave rescue begins, this is the narrowest part of the cave. pic.twitter.com/Bzwk1dzi6U
— #Thinker 🌀 (@areta) July 8, 2018
The Governor of the province, which controls the mission, said that now there are optimal conditions for evacuation, which will stop again if it starts to rain. Earlier it was reported that the boys can stay in the cave for a few months.
The founder of Tesla and Space X Elon Musk offered an alternative in the rescue of the imprisoned people. The billionaire said that it is possible to put in the cave, nylon pipe, fill it with air and create the «underwater tunnel».
Maybe worth trying: insert a 1m diameter nylon tube (or shorter set of tubes for most difficult sections) through the cave network & inflate with air like a bouncy castle. Should create an air tunnel underwater against cave roof & auto-conform to odd shapes like the 70cm hole.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2018
Why schoolchildren were in the cave?
23 Jun teenagers and their coach went on a tour in the cave complex of Tham Luang. Suddenly the area began heavy rains, which blocked the exit from the underground traps in connection with the arriving water.
Within 9 days nothing was known about the fate of the missing. But July 2, the parents of the boys came good news: their children are found and they’re fine.
One of the divers, John Volanthen from Britain, recorded on video the moment of their first meeting. All the boys were very helpful on the recording, but, according to rescuers, they were exhausted and very hungry. Further, during the week the divers were taken to the cave, food, oxygen cylinders and other supplies.
Boys are also taught to use the diving equipment that they have managed to swim out of the cave.
We will remind, several days ago in Thailand there was another incident which proved fatal. July 5, near the popular holiday resort of Phuket overturned 2 boats with tourists. The result 40 people died, another 16 are still missing.
