Royal Thai Navy Seal frogmen said they have found some signs inside the underwater cave late Monday morning, indicating they might be still alive.
The frogmen are now setting on foot from the spacious hall inside the cave to the end of the 7-kilometer long cave which is a creek and steep ravine bordering Myanmar.
Search for the missing 12 teenagers and their football coach resumed again on Monday morning with the Royal Thai Navy Seals frogmen taking part after having to end the 6-hour search last night due to darkness and the rising water in this 7-kilometer long cave, the longest cave in the country.
The rescue team has to assess the renewed mission from several obstacles when it went inside the cave yesterday but called off the search at 2.00am on Monday.
Commander of the Navy Seals Capt Anant Surawan held a meeting before dawn today with the rescue team which comprises volunteers and local guides to sort out the obstacles before resuming the rescue operation in the morning.
The meeting agreed to split in three teams with the first team entering the cave to assess the situation again this morning, while the two remaining teams on standby to go in with all rescue gears at 6.00am.
The commander said “we find a spacious hall on the left side from the junction where we found baggages of the football team left behind. The hall is still not flooded, but it is not possible to access the hall because it is blocked by a 5-meter deep well. We still could not access the hall as there is something that is blocking the visibility of the entrance. This prompts us to reassess the situation and work out a new rescue plan.”
Last night the rescue team reported the main obstacle was the water inside the Tham Luang Khunnam Nang Non cave in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai which remained high, and the muddy color water which obstructed the Navy Seal frogmen from the underwater search in a 5-meter deep well.
The rising water in the well was reported to block the entrance to a spacious hall inside the cave where the rescue team believed the football team might be sheltering. However as the water rose quickly and blocked the entrance, the football team then could not come out as the water level was 2-5 meters deep.
Latest report at 10.00am on Monday said the Navy Seals frogmen has diven in the well and has entered the spacious hall.
Radio messages from the frogmen late this morning said they have entered the hall which is large but could not find the football team.
However, they said they have found some signs left by the football team on the wall of the cave in the hall, indicating they are still alive.
The frogmen are now setting on foot from the hall to the end of the cave which is 7 kilometers long to look for the footballers.
The end of the cave is a steep ravine and is on the borderline between Thailand and Myanmar and could be passed due it’s steep sides.
Yesterday Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn headed to the Tham Luang Khunnam Nang Non park in Mae Sai district to supervise the continuation of the search and rescue operations to recover the 11 young footballers and one coach trapped inside the flooded cave since Saturday night.
The cave, which is about 6-7kilometres long, was reported to be flooded with swollen water from a creek following heavy rains on Saturday.
The 13 members of the Tam Pong Pha football club are believed to be still alive and trapped inside the innermost part of the cave where it is believed to be not flooded.
Members of the police, the military, rescue units and foreign volunteers who are specialists in cave diving have been mobilized to rescue the trapped victims.
But the rescue operation has hit a snag due to a shortage of necessary equipment.
