At the beginning of this week, twelve Thai boys youth soccer team with the coach was found in the trap experts on diving. The team was trapped in an air pocket in a network of flooded caves. The water level in these cave complexes will remain intact for months, but a bold plan to rescue the guys quickly gaining shape.
Briefly about what happened: a dozen boys aged 11 to 16 years with a trainer (he is 25) came into the cave There Luang Nang Non Thai province of Chiang Rai on June 23, but the rise of water from heavy rains locked the football team in a cave system beneath 2 kilometers from the exit. On 2 July, the Thai team “Navy seals” and two British expert on diving in the caves found the team huddling on the dirty good stone.
Video made on the spot showed that the guys are OK but very weak — they had no food for nine days. Yesterday they were joined by a doctor and a nurse and brought them easily digestible high-calorie foods with vitamins and minerals.
Joy finds, however, quickly gave way to alarm as it became evident that in the near future boys will not be able to leave the place of his imprisonment.
Twelve Thai boys trapped in a flooded cave
Long, convoluted path to the entrance of the cave completely filled with water, untouched with only a few air pockets along the way. Moreover, the water is very dirty and muddy, visibility is almost zero. Some sections are so narrow that even divers can barely squeeze through them with oxygen tanks, and the water current is very strong in some places. The water season lasts four to five months; in the near future independent of water level decrease can be expected. Some of the guys can’t swim, not to mention familiarity with underwater diving.
Medicines and food are transported to a scene in the worst case, guys will have to sit in the cave until October or November. Food and medicines for four months have been collected if the case is to go.
But the government of Thailand is looking for another way out. Rear Admiral Pakorn Yuangkeaw, division commander of the Thai Navy seals, acknowledges that weather is of concern, but notes that the guys will be extracted in a safe manner when enough water from the cave removed.
“If due to the seasonal rain that doesn’t work, you will have to make other arrangements,” said rear Admiral on Tuesday to reporters. “We have a plan A and a plan B, so in the end everyone comes back to mommy.”
It does not apply on the plans, but according to The Guardian, at the moment of the caves was pumped 120 million gallons of water.
Also the boys read quick course in navigation and dedicated in underwater diving. Thai officials are currently negotiating with the Mermaid Subsea Services in Bangkok — the firm normally provides equipment for subsea oil and gas. The company was asked to make for kids masks for scuba diving. Ideally, would the AGA Divator mask, which covers the whole face and made specifically for children. Ruengrit Changchunyuan, Thai representative of the international team of cave divers said that the boys will also be issued with wetsuits (the water is really cold), boots and helmets.
To remove all the water from the cave system is not possible, but as soon as the water level is sufficiently low, the amount of time that the boys will have to be shipped, will be minimized. Timing will be crucial; the officials probably will always have to assess the conditions on the background of the weather forecast.
As soon as the rescue operation, static rope, which is already in place, will guide each boy and tied him to a diver-rescuer through the muddy rushing waters to the entrance (or exit, then how you look). Perhaps along the way will put divers and they will carry the boys to each other in turn. The whole journey can take three hours or more, so every 25-50 meters will be placed spare cylinders in case the oxygen level starts to fall and the tank will need to be replaced. The boys will not carry oxygen cylinders, they will have to rely on cylinders of rescuers. Ideally, the path will pass through one boy at a time.
Officials have already begun the process of recruiting ticketing divers, which should help to calm the boys during a difficult journey. The dark, claustrophobic conditions can easily cause a panic for even the most experienced divers.
The application of the mining equipment to dig the passage to the boys, not even considered, because they are at a depth of 1000 meters below the mountaintop. However, the rescue team is currently exploring the mountain in search of alternative paths in the cave.
The plans are bold and ambitious, but officials in Thailand say that neither one of the boys are not compromised. About plan “B” while no one says, but to wait for the end of the rainy season, though not perfect, but still a reasonable alternative.
Thai caves stuck children. How will they be saved?
Ilya Hel