Rescue of Stranded Thai Soccer Team Children Limited for Time

Rescue attempts to extract a team of Thai children and their soccer coach who were trapped in a cave after water levels unexpectedly rose trapping them in a section of the cave network that is no longer accessible received some good news regarding the redoubling of efforts to get them to safety. The battle against time and the rising water level during Thailand’s monsoon rains has proven to be most difficult, and reaching the stranded group requires divers to perform some difficult manoeuvres underwater as they near the section where the children are stranded, having to readjust their oxygen tank and hold it out in front of them to fit through some of the narrows openings to reach the sand bar the children are now seeking refuge on. So far, one diver has died in his attempts to make this treacherous swim.

However, authorities and locals are doing everything they can to assist the children, with plans to help teach the children how to swim through to the other side being discussed, taking into consideration the fact that they are aged between eleven and sixteen years of age, and not all of them are strong swimmers. Another potential rescue operation that has been floated among rescuers is to drill down from the forest floor above the group, and attempt to extricate them without having to brave the water. Time is of the essence as any unexpected intensity in the rains could cause water levels to rise even further, endangering the children and putting them in a far more precarious situation than they are in now.