Thailand cave: Rescuers race against time to save boys as rain closes in

Bangkok, July 5: It's Day 3 since a team of young soccer players aged between 11 and 16 and its 25-year-old coach was located inside a deep and complex cave system in the Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand and although the rescuers have reached enough food, medical aid and other essentials to the trapped group, its members are yet to be brought out.

The rescuers, including several international teams and hundreds of personnel, were operating on three distinct fronts - according to a Guardian report - but they had limited time to evacuate the trapped boys as heavy rain was forecast the coming weekend.

The region though has seen a dry spell for a few days but once rain resumes, the water level will rise, making it difficult for the rescue team to bring out the trapped team.

The soccer team went missing on June 23 when heavy rain left them trapped in the caves where they had gone and was located after nine days, alive.

Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn said at a press conference on Thursday morning that earlier, the authorities were racing against time and now they are racing against water.

The journey to and from the trapped group to the cave entry takes about 11 hours - a distance challenging enough to be covered in unfavourable conditions. In case of more rain, it is highly likely that the communication set up with the stranded group will be snapped by rising water level.

Thailand's army had said earlier that the group might have to remain there for months if the boys didn't know to dive and help the rescuers to bring them out.

The incident has drawn worldwide attention with Australia also sending defence specialists specialising in disaster recovery to help the boys to return to safety.

Earlier, a video posted by Thai Navy SEALs on Facebook showed the boys in "healthy" conditions. They were also reportedly teaching the boys how to dive.