Rescue hopes get a boost

AUTHORITIES expect to locate soon the 13 missing footballers through full-scale rescue efforts, after they went missing in the flooded Tham Luang cave on June 23. 
“I believe they are still fine and we will find them shortly,” Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said yesterday evening, as the rescue mission made progress on several fronts. 
Inside the flooded cave in Chiang Rai province, rescuers have already gone past the T-junction of the cave and got closer to the so-called “Pattaya Beach” chamber where the footballers ranging in age from 11 to 16 and their assistant coach, 25, are believed to have gathered in a bid to avoid flash floods in the cave. The victims had visited the cave on June 23 but did not come out, possibly because flash floods hit and blocked the cave’s only known entrance.
Above the cave, rescue teams have now found at least three promising shafts. Surveys show one of the shafts goes at least 400 metres deep, while another is more than 60 metres deep. There is a possibility that these shafts may naturally connect to the cave or with the help of drilling, may lead to the cave. 
Heavy drilling equipment has already been transported to some locations above the cave.

At another shaft, experts and rescue workers are drilling a small hole in a huge rock with the plan to sprinkle colourful powder down to check if drilling through this rock would provide access to the latter part of the Tham Luang cave.
Although the cave has never been thoroughly explored, available data suggests it is about 10 kilometres long.
The Pattaya Beach zone is like a dune covering a few square kilometres. It is hence seen as big and safe enough for all 13 football team members to gather and rest together.
Experts say humans can survive without food for between 30 and 45 days if they still drink water. 
“Stress may rise after 10 days of rescue operations, but we still have good hope and unwavering determination to save all the victims,” Narongsak said. 
He said once the victims were located, diving doctors would go to the spot to check their health condition to plan their proper evacuation. 
“If they cannot move, we will take care of their health inside the cave first,” he said. “We have even prepared dietary capsules.”
At present, the Royal Thai Navy SEALs have already set up a forward command inside the third chamber of the cave. It is equipped with food, communication signals, lighting and oxygen tanks. This will allow the SEALs and diving experts, including those from foreign countries, to stay put in the camp instead of returning to the cave entrance. 
About 20 former SEALs also joined the rescue operations yesterday. As flooding poses the biggest obstacle for the rescue operations, it takes highly skilled divers to brave through the cold and muddy floodwaters at several portions of the cave. 
From the T-junction, it is about 1.5 km to Pattaya Beach. 
However, the small and narrow passage to the zone is fully flooded. Small-built divers have been chosen to explore this passage. 
Nearby, rod lines of oxygen bottles and lighting have been installed to facilitate the divers’ mission. 
The floodwater level inside the cave has dropped considerably, as the downpour has stopped and powerful pumps drain water out of the cave fast.