Flooding complicates search for 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach trapped in cave for three days
The rescue effort hinges on pumping out water so divers have room to operate, said a high-level Thai official on the scene
Efforts to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been missing inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand for three days hinge on pumping out water so that navy divers have room to operate, the first high-level Thai official to visit the site said on Tuesday.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda told reporters that navy SEAL divers leading the search were handicapped by muddy water that has filled some chambers of the large cave to the ceilings.
He said the divers can proceed only when enough water is pumped out so there is space between the water and the ceiling to make it safer to work. The divers will also soon start using special oxygen tanks that provide longer diving times, he said.
A SEAL diver said the water was so murky that even with lights they could not see where they were going underwater. Anupong said rescuers would be working night and day in the dark cave.
About a dozen divers and other rescuers re-entered the cave on Tuesday morning to search for the boys, aged 11 to 16, who have been missing since their coach took them to the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex on Saturday after a practice match. But the search had to be suspended again because of high water.