All 12 boys, soccer coach rescued from flooded Thai cave

Rescuers freed thelast four of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from deepinside a flooded cave on Tuesday, a successful end to anextraordinarily perilous mission that gripped the world for morethan two weeks.

Cheers erupted at a local government office where dozens of volunteers and journalists were awaiting news of whether the intricate and high-risk rescue mission had succeeded. Helicopters transporting the boys roared overhead. People on the street cheered and clapped when ambulances carrying the boys on the last leg of their journey passed by.

"We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the 13 Wild Boars are now out of the cave," the SEALs said, referring to the name of the boys' soccer team. "Everyone is safe."

The team members, who range in age from 11to 16, and thecoach became trapped onJune 23 while exploring the cave complex in the northern province of Chiang Rai after soccer practice and a rainy seasondownpour flooded the tunnels.

Thai officials celebrate successful rescues of trapped cavers

6 years ago

Duration 1:01

'We have done something that nobody thought we could do,' says regional governor of Chiang Rai

British divers found the group, hungry and huddled in darknesson a muddy bank in a partly flooded chamber several kilometresinside the complex, on Monday last week. After pondering for days how to get the 13 out, a rescueoperation was launched on Sunday when four of the boys were brought out, tethered to rescue divers.

Another four were rescued on Monday, and the last four boysand the 25-year-old coach were brought out on Tuesday.

Amporn Sriwichai, an aunt of the rescued coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, said she was happy and excited. "If I see him, I just want to hug him and tell him that I missed him very much," she said.

Word that theyhad all made it out safely was met with cheers at a local government office where dozens of volunteers and journalists were awaiting the outcome of the rescue operation.

Success of Thai cave rescue brings cheers and tears

6 years ago

Duration 1:34

CBC's Briar Stewart describes celebratory atmosphere in northern Thailand after entire soccer team is safely brought out of Tham Luang cave

"There's just a lot of happiness in the atmosphere right now, people taking pictures, hugging, really just a sense of elation that the mission today was so successful," the CBC's Briar Stewart reported from a media centre there.

Payap Maiming, 40, who helped provide food and necessities to rescue workers and journalists, said a "miracle" had happened.

"I'm happy for Thais all over the country, for the people of Mae Sai, and actually just everyone in the world because every news channel has presented this story, and this is what we have been waiting for," she said. Mae Sai is the district where the cave is located.

Volunteers from as far away as Australia and the UnitedStates helped with the effort to rescue the boys. U.S. military
personnel also helped.

People across Thailand, and around the world, have been closely following the rescue operation, including at the Mae Sai Prasitsart school where six of the trapped boys are students.

However, celebrations will be tinged with sadness over the loss of aformer Thai navy diver who died last Friday while on a resupplymission inside the cave in support of the rescue.

Cave-diving experts had warned it was potentially too risky to dive the youngsters out.

But Thai officials, acutely aware that the boys could be trapped for months by monsoon rains that would swell waters in the cave system, seized a window of opportunity provided by relatively mild weather. A massive water pumping effort also made the winding cave more navigable.

"We did something nobody thought possible," Chiang Rai province acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn, leader of the rescue effort, said at a celebratory news conference.

The last five were brought out of the cave on stretchers,one by one over the course of Tuesday, and taken by helicopterto hospital.

Three members of the SEAL unit and an army doctor, who had stayed with the boys since they were found, made it out of the cave later on Tuesday, officialssaid.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, speaking Tuesday beforethe final rescue was completed, said the boys were given an anti-anxiety medication to help with their perilous removal from the cave.

Prayuth said the Tham Luang cave would be closed for some time to make it safe for visitors.

Officials have not been commenting on the rescue mission asit has been taking place, so the condition of those brought out on Tuesday wasn't clear.

Watch an interview with one of the divers involved in the daring rescue operation.

CBC's Heather Hiscox speaks with rescue diver from Thailand

6 years ago

Duration 7:11

Ivan Karadzic was part of the dive team that rescued boys and soccer coach trapped in cave

The eight boys brought out on Sunday and Monday were in good health overall and some asked for chocolate bread for breakfast, officials said, though they can't yet digest the spicy dishes favoured by many Thais.

Two of the boys had suspected lung infections but the fourboys from the first group rescued were all walking around inhospital.

The boys were still being quarantined from their parentsbecause of the risk of infection and would likely be kept in hospital for a week to undergo tests, officials said earlier onTuesday.

It was clear doctors were taking a cautious approach. Jedsada Chokdumrongsuk, permanent secretary at the public health ministry, said they were uncertain what type of infections the boys could face "because we have never experienced this kind of issue from a deep cave."