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Cave rescue: All 13 out after 17-day ordeal in Thailand | Cave rescue: All 13 out after 17-day ordeal in Thailand |
(35 minutes later) | |
Divers in northern Thailand have rescued all 13 people who were trapped in a flooded cave system, 17 days after they got trapped underground. | |
The plight of the 12 boys and their football coach, and the work to free them, gripped the world's attention. | The plight of the 12 boys and their football coach, and the work to free them, gripped the world's attention. |
Four boys and the coach were brought out on Tuesday evening to complete the rescue mission, Thai navy divers said. | |
The group, a football team, got stuck deep inside the cave on 23 June after heavy rains caused flooding. | |
Aged between about 11 and 17, they became trapped during an excursion with their coach. | |
After they were found by divers last week, huddled in darkness on a ledge and cut off from the outside world for nine days, the race began to get them out before the weather deteriorated even further. | After they were found by divers last week, huddled in darkness on a ledge and cut off from the outside world for nine days, the race began to get them out before the weather deteriorated even further. |
The first eight boys to be rescued, on Sunday and Monday, are still in hospital but said to be in good mental and physical health. | |
They have undergone X-rays and blood tests, and will remain under observation in hospital for at least seven days. | |
How were they rescued? | |
A team of 90 expert divers - 40 from Thailand and 50 from overseas - worked in the caves. | |
They guided the boys and their coach through darkness and submerged passageways towards the mouth of the Tham Luang cave system. | |
Getting to and from the trapped group was an exhausting round trip, even for experienced divers. | |
The process included a mixture of walking, wading, climbing and diving along guide ropes. | |
Wearing full-face masks, which are easier for novice divers than traditional respirators, each boy was accompanied by two divers, who also carried his air supply. | |
The toughest part was about halfway out at a section named "T-Junction", which was so tight that the divers had to take off their air tanks to get through. | |
Beyond that a cavern - called Chamber 3 - was turned into a forward base for the divers. | |
There the boys could rest before making the last, easier walk out to the entrance. They were then taken to hospital in Chiang Rai. | |
In an indication of how dangerous the journey was, a former Thai navy diver died in the caves on Friday. Saman Gunan was returning from a mission to provide the group with air tanks when he ran out of oxygen. |