Thailand cave rescue: Chilean miner from 2010 disaster sends message of hope to boys

If anyone knows what the boys trapped for 12 days in a Thai cave are going through, it is the Chilean miners whose 69-day ordeal similarly gripped the attention of the world back in 2010.

Now, one of those 33 miners has issued a message of support and encouragement to the 12 boys and their football coach trapped in Chiang Rai.

Mario Sepulveda, wearing a mining hat and tweeting under the handle @SuperMarioChile, posted the video on Twitter in which he said he had “no doubt” the operation to save the boys would be a success.

“I would like to send greetings and a lot of strength to the authorities and the families of these 12 children,” said Mr Sepulveda.

“I have no doubt that if the government of that country puts in everything and makes all the humanly possibly efforts, this rescue will be successful. May God bless you!”

Mr Sepulveda and the rest of his mining crew spent more than two months about 625 meters (2,050 feet) underground after their copper and gold mine caved in on 5 August 2010.

There are a number of similarities between their situation and the Thai boys’. For the first 17 days after the cave-in, the miners were uncontactable and their families feared the worst.

The boys in Thailand, aged 11 to 16, went to explore the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex after playing football on 23 June. They were not seen for nine days until two British volunteer divers located them on Monday night. One mother said she had felt it was no more than a “50 per cent” chance her son would be alive.

After rescuers found the Chilean miners, using a bore hole the width of a grapefruit, they were passed food and water through the shaft for some time while an extraction plan was devised.

In Thailand, a team of seven navy SEALs have been staying with the boys in the cave, with divers ferrying supplies to them, while they work out how to evacuate the children.

And the Chilean mine crisis dominated headlines and news bulletins around the world, until they were safely shuttled up the narrow shaft one-by-one in a specially-designed capsule. Rescuers hope the Thai boys’ story will end with similar success.

“We are praying for each of you, for each of the families and for these children,” Mr Sepulveda said in his video.

And in a follow-up email to the Reuters news agency, his wife Katty Valdivia added a further message for the Thai boys’ families: “I want you to know that we know what you are going through – the anguish, the sadness, the desperation, and the agony that you are feeling.”