magazinehomes

In June and July 2018, a widely publicised cave rescue saved the lives of members of a junior football team who were trapped inside the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. Twelve members of the team, aged eleven to sixteen, and their 25-year-old assistant coach entered the cave on 23 June after football practice. Shortly afterwards, heavy rains partially flooded the cave, blocking their way out. Efforts to locate the group were hampered by rising water levels and strong currents, and no contact was made for more than a week. The rescue effort expanded into a massive operation amid intense worldwide public interest involving international rescue teams. On 2 July, after advancing through narrow passages and muddy waters, British divers John Volanthen and Richard Stanton found the group alive on an elevated rock about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the cave mouth. Rescue organisers discussed various options for extracting the group, including whether to teach them basi...

Tham Luang Nang Non is a karstic cave complex beneath Doi Nang Non, a mountain range on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. The system is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long and has many deep recesses, narrow passages and tunnels winding under hundreds of metres of limestone strata. Since part of the cave system is seasonally flooded, a sign advising against entering the caves during the rainy season (July–November) is posted at the entrance. On Saturday 23 June 2018, a group of twelve boys aged between 11 and 16 from a local junior football team named the Wild Boars and their 25-year-old assistant coach, Ekkaphon Chanthawong, went missing after setting out to explore the cave. According to early news reports, they planned to have a birthday party in the cave after the football practice, and spent a significant sum of money on food, but they denied this in a news conference after the rescue. The team was stranded in the tunnels by sudden and continuous rainfall after they had entered the...

External video The first video released by Thai Navy SEALs showing the children and their coach after they were found by British volunteer divers External images Map, from above, of the Tham Luang cave system, provided by BBC News Map, side view, of the Tham Luang cave system, provided by Deutsche Welle British caver Vern Unsworth, who lives in Chiang Rai and has detailed knowledge of the cave complex, was scheduled to make a solo venture into the cave on 24 June when he received a call about the missing boys. Unsworth advised the Thai government to request assistance from the British Cave Rescue Council (BCRC). On 25 June, Thai Navy SEALs divers arrived and began searching the cave. A Thai Navy SEAL said the water was so murky that even with lights they could not see where they were going underwater. After continuous rain, which further flooded the entrance, the search had to be periodically interrupted. On 27 June, three BCRC cave divers arrived with specialist equipment including...

A logistics camp was established at the cave entrance, which accommodated hundreds of volunteers and journalists in addition to the rescue workers. The site was divided into several zones: restricted areas for the Thai Navy SEALs, other military personnel, and civilian rescuers, an area for the relatives to give them privacy, and areas for the press and for the general public. An estimated 10,000 people contributed to the rescue effort, including more than 100 divers, representatives from about 100 government agencies, 900 police officers, 2,000 soldiers and numerous volunteers. Equipment included ten police helicopters, seven police ambulances, and more than 700 diving cylinders, of which more than 500 were in the cave at any time while another 200 were in the queue to be refilled. More than a billion litres of water (the equivalent of 400 Olympic-size swimming pools) were removed. Challenges edit The point where the boys became stranded was about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the entran...

On the morning of 8 July, officials instructed the media and all non-essential personnel around the cave entrance to clear the area as a rescue operation was imminent, due to the threat of monsoon rains later in the week, which were expected to flood the cave until October. For the first part of the extraction, eighteen rescue divers consisting of thirteen international cave divers and five Thai Navy SEALs were sent into the caves to retrieve the boys, with one diver to accompany each boy on the dive out. There were conflicting reports that the boys were rescued with the weakest first or strongest first. In fact, the order was which boy volunteered first. The 25-year-old coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, said, "I talked with Dr. Harris. Everyone was strong and no one was sick," he told the press. "Everybody had a strong mental state. Dr. Harris said... there's no preference." The team decided as a group that the boys who lived the farthest away should leave first. Ekap...

Local edit Residents of Chiang Rai province volunteered to cook, clean for, and otherwise support the missing team's families and the rescue teams at the encampment by the cave mouth. Social media were used to draw attention to the rescue attempts. Classmates and teachers of the team spent time chanting and praying for the missing boys. Classmates of one of the boys made 1,000 paper cranes for him, while praying for his safe return. Local schools donated money to help the parents with living costs, as many of them stopped working in order to follow the rescue attempts. On 29 June, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visited the search site and told the families of the boys not to give up hope. Following the death of Saman Kunan, King Rama X announced that he would sponsor Kunan's funeral. After the rescue was completed, the boys' families, the rescue commander, military officials, and the thousands of volunteers gathered at the cave entrance. The group gave thanks for the live...

23 June: The team entered the Tham Luang cave shortly after practice and prior to heavy rain. Later, the mother of one of the boys reported to local police that her son was missing after he failed to arrive home. Local police investigated and found shoes and bicycles near the entrance of the cave after rumours spread about them going into the Tham Luang cave. 24 June: Handprints and footprints of the boys were found by officials. A vigil is held outside the cave by relatives. 25 June: Thai Navy SEAL divers enter the cave to search for the team. 26 June: Having arrived at a T-junction, divers were pushed back due to floodwaters. The floodwaters blocked an elevated air pocket near Pattaya Beach, where divers believe the team may have been stranded. 27 June: British and a US military team of divers and experts were sent to Thailand to help with the search. Divers re-entered but quickly retreated due to another flooding. 28 June: Heavy rains caused the rescue operation to stop temporarily....

The head of the rescue mission and former governor of Chiang Rai province, Narongsak Osatanakorn  th , said that the cave system would be turned into a living museum to highlight how the operation unfolded. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha acknowledged the statement but highlighted the concerns for tourist safety, stating that precautions would have to be added and correctly implemented both inside and outside to safeguard tourists. Following the incident, Thailand's Navy SEALs will include cave-diving in their training regimen to be better prepared for similar emergencies. Three of the boys and their assistant coach were stateless, and officials promised that they would be granted Thai citizenship within six months. On 26 September, the four were granted Thai citizenship. The Thai government has vowed to end statelessness by 2024. Film edit On 10 July 2018, a managing partner of US film production company Pure Flix announced that the firm was planning to create a feature film base...

The head of the rescue mission and former governor of Chiang Rai province, Narongsak Osatanakorn  th , said that the cave system would be turned into a living museum to highlight how the operation unfolded. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha acknowledged the statement but highlighted the concerns for tourist safety, stating that precautions would have to be added and correctly implemented both inside and outside to safeguard tourists. Following the incident, Thailand's Navy SEALs will include cave-diving in their training regimen to be better prepared for similar emergencies. Three of the boys and their assistant coach were stateless, and officials promised that they would be granted Thai citizenship within six months. On 26 September, the four were granted Thai citizenship. The Thai government has vowed to end statelessness by 2024. Film edit On 10 July 2018, a managing partner of US film production company Pure Flix announced that the firm was planning to create a feature film base...

Local edit Residents of Chiang Rai province volunteered to cook, clean for, and otherwise support the missing team's families and the rescue teams at the encampment by the cave mouth. Social media were used to draw attention to the rescue attempts. Classmates and teachers of the team spent time chanting and praying for the missing boys. Classmates of one of the boys made 1,000 paper cranes for him, while praying for his safe return. Local schools donated money to help the parents with living costs, as many of them stopped working in order to follow the rescue attempts. On 29 June, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visited the search site and told the families of the boys not to give up hope. Following the death of Saman Kunan, King Rama X announced that he would sponsor Kunan's funeral. After the rescue was completed, the boys' families, the rescue commander, military officials, and the thousands of volunteers gathered at the cave entrance. The group gave thanks for the live...

23 June: The team entered the Tham Luang cave shortly after practice and prior to heavy rain. Later, the mother of one of the boys reported to local police that her son was missing after he failed to arrive home. Local police investigated and found shoes and bicycles near the entrance of the cave after rumours spread about them going into the Tham Luang cave. 24 June: Handprints and footprints of the boys were found by officials. A vigil is held outside the cave by relatives. 25 June: Thai Navy SEAL divers enter the cave to search for the team. 26 June: Having arrived at a T-junction, divers were pushed back due to floodwaters. The floodwaters blocked an elevated air pocket near Pattaya Beach, where divers believe the team may have been stranded. 27 June: British and a US military team of divers and experts were sent to Thailand to help with the search. Divers re-entered but quickly retreated due to another flooding. 28 June: Heavy rains caused the rescue operation to stop temporarily....

The head of the rescue mission and former governor of Chiang Rai province, Narongsak Osatanakorn  th , said that the cave system would be turned into a living museum to highlight how the operation unfolded. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha acknowledged the statement but highlighted the concerns for tourist safety, stating that precautions would have to be added and correctly implemented both inside and outside to safeguard tourists. Following the incident, Thailand's Navy SEALs will include cave-diving in their training regimen to be better prepared for similar emergencies. Three of the boys and their assistant coach were stateless, and officials promised that they would be granted Thai citizenship within six months. On 26 September, the four were granted Thai citizenship. The Thai government has vowed to end statelessness by 2024. Film edit On 10 July 2018, a managing partner of US film production company Pure Flix announced that the firm was planning to create a feature film base...