For the past 12-days, Thai soccer team has been trapped in a cave in Northern Thailand. After their descent into the cave, monsoon rains poured down and filled parts of the cave with water, leaving the team trapped. The team consists of 12 boys, between the ages of 11 and 16, and their coach. The boys were found alive and basically in good physical and mental shape, but before, they were trapped in the pitch black for 9-days surrounded by bats and without food or water. After rescuers made the first contact, CNN posted a video of the boys wrapped in tinfoil blankets and thanking their rescuers.
The team will remain in the cave while rescuers plot their escape.
Rescue experts say they are working against the Thailand monsoon season which could potentially flood the entire cave. They are working against time and have considered multiple schemes to return these boys to their families.
Rescuers have considered training the boys to swim and teaching them how to dive. For this plan to work, the rescuers will have to nurse the boys back to health and conduct practice dives in preparation for an escape. The divers must train the boys as soon as possible to avoid the torrential downpours of the monsoon season.
The boys have received full examinations of their physical well-being and medical professionals have measured their hydration status, glucose levels, and exhaustion levels. All of the victims are basically well, but according to a Thai Navy Seal, the Thai soccer team and their coach are not yet well enough to escape the cave.
On a brighter note, Navy Seals said that the boys have been staying positive and have been asking about the 2018 World Cup results.
“They are putting telephone cables into the caves so the boys can speak to their parents, maybe even see them on a video link. And the boys have been asking questions about the soccer World Cup and who is winning,” said NBC’s Bill Neely
FIFA issued the following statement:
“It is with great joy that we have received the news that the 12 boys and their football coach have been found alive after nine days missing in a flooded cave in Thailand. We hope that with the help of the rescue team, the boys and their coach will be brought safely out of the cave so that they can be reunited with their families.”
Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo Nazario commented:
“It is terrible news and the world of football hopes that someone can find a way to take these kids out of there”
There is no doubt that the Thai soccer team and their coach must use their teamwork skills to escape. Outside of the cave, the world has been rooting for these boys and hopes for their quick return.
Featured Image via Stars and Stripes
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