CHIANG RAI, Thailand, July 8 (Reuters): Four of 12 Thai schoolboys were rescued from a flooded cave on Sunday as divers launched a daring and dangerous mission to free the children and their soccer coach who have been trapped underground for more than two weeks, officials said.
Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand's elite navy SEAL unit guided the boys to safety through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai navy diver on Friday.
As night fell, the operation to rescue the remaining eight boys - some as young as 11 and weak swimmers - and their coach was called off until Monday morning.
"Today we managed to rescue and send back four children to Chiang Rai Prachanukrua Hospital safely," the head of the rescue operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn, said at a news conference.
The rescue teams needed about 10 hours to prepare for their next operation, involving about 90 divers in total, 50 of them from foreign countries, he said.
Four Thai boys exit cave, rescue operation resumes today
FE Team | Published: July 08, 2018 23:48:21
An ambulance leaving the Tham Luang cave area after divers evacuated some of the 12 boys and their coach trapped at the cave in Chiang Rai province of Thailand on Sunday — AFP
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