I just returned from Thailand yesterday, and this has been dominating the news, as you can imagine. I sense general optimism for them all, but it’s definitely tempered with caution. We experienced our first monsoon rain while we were there, and it flooded out our hotel room. I think they will get them all out alive though.
ETA: There’s an idea afloat to take them out from the land above, if they can find a chimney.
According to the cave divers on the scuba forum to which I belong, there is at least one chimney but it’s not big enough to get a person through. Perhaps they’re thinking of drilling to enlarge it.
A former Thai navy seal has died during the rescue effort. This should underscore the danger of trying to get the boys out by diving and take that option off the table.
Yes, I fear they will be there for a long time now.
They are looking for shoots/tunnels from the top of the mountain, and hoping to be able hoist them up those shoots. It would be about 1/2 mile but they’ve done it for coal mine collapses.
I believe he was bringing them oxygen, not rescuing. Ironic that the deliverer ran out of oxygen. Very sad all around.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44734385
How awful that the seal died trying to assist the stranded team. I hope a safer solution is soon found. X_X
I’m with @milee30 on this one. We’re all certified but not experienced divers. To me, the biggest factor would be a kid getting significant water in his mask and then panicking … game over … and he could end up taking out his experienced escort, too.
One possible reason for hope in the dive extraction method is that, from the graphics I’ve seen on dailymail.co.uk, it looks like the kids would only have to dive for sections of the escape (there are pockets of “land” along the route). Also, from the photos I’ve seen, the cave is narrow but relatively tall. I think that would help a ton in reducing the risk of panic because being restricted from side-to-side isn’t as “scary” as top-to-bottom.
Crazy idea: figure out a way to place LED “rope” lights along the right wall of the underwater sections. They’d provide an easy reference if the kids get disoriented in the swim out because they would know to keep the lights to their right.
From the very first, my imagination went to the movie titanic, with Shelly ——- They died themselves together by rope and pulled thru. In this case, I picture a 1:1 atttempt. As they bring in supplies, they take one child out.
IRS,
Even very experienced cave divers can panic. I wonder what happened with the navy diver. According to some, a large portion of experienced divers who die during a dive miscalculated something about their oxygen supply.
Thank goodness the waters in this cave are not very deep. A dive deeper than 50 feet would have added complexity. Speaking of taking out experienced escort… not related to this rescue, but an incredible story. A while ago I read a BBC article about this deep water dive tragedy in Norway… it has a detailed account of that event and also explains what could go wrong during dives, especially deep water cave diving.
Terrible situation and I hope they all survive. I read that the oxygen level has fallen to 15% from 21% mainly due to so many divers coming in and trying to help. They now must increase the oxygen level in the room with the boys.
From what I read the issue is the rains will start on Sunday and they are not certain how high the water will rise around the boys…
I haven’t follwed this closely. Can someone explain how the boys got trapped?
The team entered the tunnel system with their coach on June 23, presumably on a hike/recreational adventure. They were trapped when rains unexpectedly flooded the tunnels. It is common for the tunnels to flood during rainy season but the sign at the mouth of the cave warns of the risk of flooding from “July to November.’
A detailed account from City Life Chang Mai through Wednesday:
http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/news/live-updates-teenager-football-team-trapped-thai-cave/
And updates:
http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/news/rescue-updates-teenager-football-team-found-alive-cave/
These include the most detailed maps of the caves I’ve seen.
This rescue is a global effort. Wonderful to see nations and individuals like Elon Musk pull together for these boys. The whole world is rooting for them.
This story triggers my claustrophobia. Ugh! I can’t even try to imagine.
I would definitely consider the fallen navy diver a rescuer.
This is one of those stories that terrifies me. I can barely follow it because there’s nothing I can do and I feel like I’m gasping for breath reading about it. I certainly do pray that smart and experienced people can figure this one out. Those parents must be frantic.
15% oxygen level? That can’t be correct! They would be passing out and soon dead if O2 was so low.
https://sciencing.com/minimum-oxygen-concentration-human-breathing-15546.html