Thailand cave rescue: media banned from site amid speculation over mission to free boys – live | World news

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the rescue efforts to free the trapped football team and their coach from the Tham Luang caves in northern Thailand.

This is the sixth day since the boys were found in a cave and it is now 15 days since they became trapped after entering the caves after football practice on 23 June.

Since they were found on Monday night, officials have been trying to find a safe way to bring the boys, who are trapped 5km into the caves, out to safety. Tragically, one of the divers involved in the mission died on Friday.

Officials have been scrambling to work out the safest way to bring the boys out of the caves safely and have done so with the prospect of monsoon rains hanging over them.

My colleague Michael Safi is at the cave and will be filing reports as they come in, you can follow him on Twitter here. You can follow me on Twitter here and email me on kate.lyons@theguardian.com with any questions or tips.

The large number of journalists who have been waiting at the entrance to the cave for any news of the rescue of the trapped boys and their coach, have been been barred from the site.

Earlier this morning, media arriving at the caves were being turned away, though media who had been camping out there overnight were told they were allowed to stay. Not long afterwards, even those journalists already in the cave site were told to leave.

Media are being directed to a district office. There is speculation that moving out the media is a precursor to the rescue operation beginning, but the Guardian has no confirmation that a rescue will be attempted.

The Guardian’s south Asia correspondent Michael Safi is on the ground in Thailand and says this is the most significant thing to happen since the boys were found and there is a sense that something is about to happen.

“If it’s not the rescue it’s something equally momentous,” he said.