After 10 Days Trapped in a Cave in Thailand, a Difficult Rescue Lies Ahead

In northern Thailand, hundreds of international rescue workers spent the past 10 days searching for a group of 12 boys, ages 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old soccer coach who became trapped in a cave after flooding caused by relentless monsoon rains. Late on July 2, rescue teams discovered all of the boys and their coach alive and in relatively good health, sheltering deep inside the cave complex. Outside, family and friends, who gathered in recent days to pray, welcomed the news. While the boys have been found, extracting them from the cave still remains a difficult task—much of the return trip is underwater and even though pumps are lowering the water level, the rainfall is not letting up. Thai officials are reportedly weighing options that include waiting for passages to become dry enough, or providing the boys with diving gear and having them swim through some submerged sections.

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