Efforts to rescue a youth football team missing for three days inside a flooded cave in Thailand hinge on authorities being able to pump out enough water to give divers room to conduct searches.
Muddy waters that have filled the sprawling Tham Luang Nang Non cave in the northern province of Chiang Rai are hindering efforts to find the group, Thai interior minister Anupong Paojinda said on Tuesday.
Mr Anupong said the goal was to “reach the kids,” but divers could proceed only when enough water is removed from the cave to give breathing space between the surface and the cavern ceiling.
About a dozen navy divers and other rescuers re-entered the cave on Tuesday morning to search for the boys, aged 11 to 16, before high water levels caused the operation to be suspended.
“The SEAL team will be working nonstop because it’s already dark here too,” Mr Anupong said: “So night and day doesn’t make a big difference. They’ll just need to rotate.”
Divers have been seeking a way forward through the chambers of the cave complex, but have been forced to suspend their search several times.
The authorities are also seeking alternative ways in, using helicopters and search parties on foot to find possible holes in the ceilings of other parts of the cave.
A small glimmer of hope was dashed Tuesday afternoon after explorers found two fissures in the rock on the mountain in which the cave is located.
After evaluation, experts found neither could be used as a “chimney” to gain access to the cave.
World news in pictures
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French President Emmanuel Macron greets Pope Francis at the end of a private audience at the Vatican.
AFP/Getty Images
2/50 25 June 2018
The frame of an abandoned Peugeot 404 rests in Niger’s Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Sunday, June 3, 2018. Once a well-worn roadway for overlander tourists, the highway 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) are a favored path for migrants heading north in hopes of a better life and more recently thousands who are being expelled south from Algeria.
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3/50 24 June 2018
Saudi women celebrate after they drove their cars in Al Khobar after the law allowing women to drive took effect. Saudi Arabia will allow women to drive from June 24, ending the world’s only ban on female motorists.
REUTERS
4/50 23 June 2018
People gather as the injured are helped by medics at the scene of an explosion during a rally to support the country’s new reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Reports say the blast occurred shortly after he addressed thousands of his supporters. He then spoke to the crowd afterwards, saying a people had been killed.
EPA
5/50 22 June 2018
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6/50 21 June 2018
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in a mass yoga session along with other practitioners to mark International Yoga Day at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun.
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8/50 19 June 2018
People wave a banner with a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a gathering of supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul, Turkey,. Turkish President Erdogan announced on 18 April that Turkey will hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 June 2018, after elections were scheduled to be held in November 2019.
EPA
9/50 18 June 2018
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EPA
10/50 17 June 2018
Juan Carlos Osorio, manager of Mexico’s national football team, celebrates their World Cup victory against Germany
Getty
11/50 16 June 2018
Kashmiri youths through stones during clashes between protestors and Indian government forces in Srinagar
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12/50 16 June 2018
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EPA
13/50 15 June 2018
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14/50 14 June 2018
Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the 2018 World Cup in Russia ahead of the group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Getty
15/50 13 June 2018
Pope Francis arrives to lead the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter’s square at the Vatican
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16/50 12 June 2018
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17/50 11 June 2018
US President Donald Trump looking at a cake being brought for him during a working lunch with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his visit to The Istana, the official residence of the prime minister, in Singapore. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump will meet on June 12 for an unprecedented summit, with the US President calling it a “one time shot” at peace.
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18/50 10 June 2018
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19/50 9 June 2018
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20/50 8 June 2018
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21/50 7 June 2018
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22/50 6 June 2018
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23/50 5 June 2018
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24/50 4 June 2018
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25/50 3 June 2018
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31/50 28 May 2018
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32/50 27 May 2018
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33/50 26 May 2018
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35/50 24 May 2018
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Getty Images
36/50 23 May 2018
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40/50 19 May 2018
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French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting during the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria.
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43/50 16 May 2018
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44/50 15 May 2018
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50/50 9 May 2018
Iranian MPs burning a US flag in the parliament in Tehran. Iran said it will hold talks with signatories to a nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the accord, which it branded “psychological warfare”. President Hassan Rouhani also said Iran could resume uranium enrichment “without limit” in response to Trump’s announcement.
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1/50
French President Emmanuel Macron greets Pope Francis at the end of a private audience at the Vatican.
AFP/Getty Images
2/50 25 June 2018
The frame of an abandoned Peugeot 404 rests in Niger’s Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Sunday, June 3, 2018. Once a well-worn roadway for overlander tourists, the highway 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) are a favored path for migrants heading north in hopes of a better life and more recently thousands who are being expelled south from Algeria.
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3/50 24 June 2018
Saudi women celebrate after they drove their cars in Al Khobar after the law allowing women to drive took effect. Saudi Arabia will allow women to drive from June 24, ending the world’s only ban on female motorists.
REUTERS
4/50 23 June 2018
People gather as the injured are helped by medics at the scene of an explosion during a rally to support the country’s new reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Reports say the blast occurred shortly after he addressed thousands of his supporters. He then spoke to the crowd afterwards, saying a people had been killed.
EPA
5/50 22 June 2018
Participants of the Dark Mofo Nude Solstice Swim are seen in the River Derwent at dawn, in Hobart, Australia,
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6/50 21 June 2018
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in a mass yoga session along with other practitioners to mark International Yoga Day at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun.
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7/50 20 June 2018
A woman and child are told they will have to wait before crossing the US border as confusion sets in following the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy on immigration
Getty
8/50 19 June 2018
People wave a banner with a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a gathering of supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul, Turkey,. Turkish President Erdogan announced on 18 April that Turkey will hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections on 24 June 2018, after elections were scheduled to be held in November 2019.
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9/50 18 June 2018
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EPA
10/50 17 June 2018
Juan Carlos Osorio, manager of Mexico’s national football team, celebrates their World Cup victory against Germany
Getty
11/50 16 June 2018
Kashmiri youths through stones during clashes between protestors and Indian government forces in Srinagar
AFP/Getty Images
12/50 16 June 2018
People are silhouetted on the flybridge of a yacht as fireworks illuminates the sky over the Yas Viceroy luxury hotel on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr at the Marina on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
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13/50 15 June 2018
Somali Muslims take part in Eid al-Fitr prayer which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan at the football pitch of the Jamacadaha stadium in Mogadishu.
AFP/Getty Images
14/50 14 June 2018
Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the 2018 World Cup in Russia ahead of the group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Getty
15/50 13 June 2018
Pope Francis arrives to lead the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter’s square at the Vatican
Reuters
16/50 12 June 2018
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their historic meeting at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore.
Reuters
17/50 11 June 2018
US President Donald Trump looking at a cake being brought for him during a working lunch with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his visit to The Istana, the official residence of the prime minister, in Singapore. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump will meet on June 12 for an unprecedented summit, with the US President calling it a “one time shot” at peace.
AFP/Getty
18/50 10 June 2018
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AFP/Getty
19/50 9 June 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaking to US Presidend Donald Trump during the second day of the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Canada. Looking on is US National Security Advisor John Bolton.
EPA
20/50 8 June 2018
Former South African President Jacob Zuma sings and dances on stage after delivering a speech during a rally in his support outside the High Court, in Durban.
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21/50 7 June 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a question during his annual call-in show in Moscow. Putin hosts call-in shows every year, which typically provide a platform for ordinary Russians to appeal to the president on issues ranging from foreign policy to housing and utilities.
AP
22/50 6 June 2018
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Reuters
23/50 5 June 2018
Police officers salute as the caskets of policewomen Soraya Belkacemi, 44, and Lucile Garcia, 54, arrive during their funeral in Liege. The two officers, and one bystander were killed in Liege on Tuesday by a gunman. Police later killed the attacker, and other officers were wounded in the shooting.
AP
24/50 4 June 2018
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25/50 3 June 2018
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26/50 2 June 2018
Palestinian mourners carry the body of 21-year-old medical volunteer Razan al-Najjar during her funeral after she was shot dead by Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border fence on June 1, in another day of protests and violence. She was shot near Khan Yunis in the south of the territory, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, bringing the toll of Gazans killed by Israeli fire since the end of March to 123.
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27/50 1 June 2018
Spain’s new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez poses after a vote on a no-confidence motion at the Spanish Parliament in Madrid. Spain’s parliament ousted Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote sparked by fury over his party’s corruption woes, with his Socialist arch-rival Pedro Sanchez automatically taking over.
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28/50 31 May 2018
Zinedine Zidane looks on after a press conference to announce his resignation as manager from Real Madrid. He confirmed he was leaving the Spanish giants, just days after winning the Champions League for the third year in a row.
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29/50 30 May 2018
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30/50 29 May 2018
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31/50 28 May 2018
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33/50 26 May 2018
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PA Wire/PA Images
34/50 25 May 2018
Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at the 1st Precinct in Manhattan where he turned himself in to New York police for sexual misconduct charges.
Reuters
35/50 24 May 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Konstantin Palace in Strelna, outside Saint Petersburg, on May 24, 2018
Getty Images
36/50 23 May 2018
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ANI via Reuters
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39/50 20 May 2018
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro casts his vote during the presidential elections in Caracas. Maduro was seeking a second term in power.
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40/50 19 May 2018
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AFP/US Geological Survey
41/50 18 May 2018
Santa Fe High School student Dakota Shrader is comforted by her mother Susan Davidson following a shooting at the school in Texas. Shrader said her friend was shot in the incident. Multiple people have been killed.
Stuart Villanueva/The Galveston County Daily News via AP
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French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting during the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Reuters
43/50 16 May 2018
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44/50 15 May 2018
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48/50 11 May 2018
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49/50 10 May 2018
Missiles rise into the sky as Israeli missiles hit air defense position and other military bases, in Damascus, Syria. The Israeli military on Thursday said it attacked “dozens” of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria in response to an Iranian rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, in the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date.
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50/50 9 May 2018
Iranian MPs burning a US flag in the parliament in Tehran. Iran said it will hold talks with signatories to a nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the accord, which it branded “psychological warfare”. President Hassan Rouhani also said Iran could resume uranium enrichment “without limit” in response to Trump’s announcement.
AFP/Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency
Rain that fell overnight on Monday increased the difficulty of exploring inside the cave.
However, the initial chambers near the cave’s entrance are dry, and a power line was extended inside to provide light and ventilation and help the divers communicate with those outside.
The team, known as the Wild Boars, and their 25-year-old coach, Ekapol “Aek” Chanthawong, entered the cave on Saturday afternoon after training and did not return.
“Coach Aek is very dedicated to the team,” said Noppadon Kanthawong, whose 13-year-old son plays for the side but decided to skip Saturday’s cave trip.
“He would be there at the field waiting for kids to show up after school. It is a great way to keep healthy, away from screens and have friends. I can tell that they are very close to each other.”
Parents were camped out in tents outside the cave entrance on Monday evening as rain continued to pour down.
Medics sat in a tent nearby, and bicycles, backpacks and football boots the boys left behind remained at the entrance.
Authorities have said footprints and handprints were found inside the cave complex, and that tourists trapped there by past floods have been rescued after the waters receded.
Getting farther into the cave has required lots of oxygen and special diving skills, which would also complicate rescue efforts once the boys are found, officials said.
The cave, cut into a mountainside near the border with Myanmar, can flood severely during the rainy season, which runs from June to October, and there are warnings against exploring then.
Additional reporting by agencies
