Thailand cave mission: 8 boys rescued; personnel rush delicate mission as rains loom large

Bangkok, July 10: The rescue teams were working against time to evacuate the young football team that has got trapped inside a complex cave system in northern Thailand and they have done it perfectly so far.

After two days of work, the personnel have succeeded in bringing out eight of the 12 boys from underground where they got stuck on June 23 because of sudden flooding. The team is also accompanied by their 25-year-old coach.

The mission was still not easy as the rescue teams had to rush the delicate operation against warnings of heavy rain. If it pours heavily before the mission gets over, there are high chances of the cave tunnels getting flooded again, putting the rescue work in jeopardy.

The rescue teams needed more than 20 hours still to speed up the next mission, said ABC News.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha also visited the site to inspect the operation underway. He had deferred his visit earlier for it could have disrupted the mission.

Four boys of the team 'Wild Boars' were rescued from inside the Tham Luang caves on Sunday, July 8, and it was followed by the rescue of four more on Monday, after they remained stranded inside the cave since June 23 and was spotted by some British divers only on July 2.

Narongsak Osottanakorn, head of the rescue mission, told the media on Monday that the rescued boys were doing fine. He was seen to be more cheerful while addressing the press conference and also received an applause after the second round of evacuation ended successfully, the Guardian reported.