Three more British cave divers flying in to join the rescue mission
THE BRITISH Cave Rescue Council (BCRC) said yesterday that three more cave divers have been dispatched to join the rescue mission at the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province as evacuation of the footballers has begun.
When they arrive, the British team will consist of seven experienced cave divers |and three non-divers to help with communication within the cave and to provide |general support, the BCRC said in a statement.
“It is important to appreciate that the UK cave divers continue to work alongside the Thai Navy SEAL divers and a combination of cave divers and open water divers from many other nations,” the statement said.
The British divers were the first to locate the missing footballers.
The decision to add more British diving experts to the mission was made after Narongsak Osotanakorn, the former governor of Chiang Rai who heads the rescue mission, announced evacuation would begin yesterday.
The governor announced a “back-up plan” to dive out the 12 boys and their football coach should the monsoon rains resume before other options could be used to rescue them from a muddy rock shelf in the Noen Nom Sao cave, which is situated 2.5 kilometres inside the larger Tham Luang cave system.
The governor explained that a re-evaluation of the boys’ situation had led the rescue authorities to conclude that they could not stay in the cave throughout the monsoon season.
In anticipation of this back-up plan, the British Cave Rescue Council received a further request from the Thai government to send additional expert cave divers, the BCRC statement said.