nickie on 6/7/2018 at 20:04
I keep wanting to say something but there isn't anything to say that reflects the horror for the lads and trainer and their parents and relatives who are going through the agony of knowing that they are alive but not knowing whether they will be by the end of this.
R Soul on 8/7/2018 at 09:58
One of the things the boys have in their favour is that they're smaller than the rescuers, so in the tighter sections that may cancel out the disadvantage of being less physically strong.
demagogue on 8/7/2018 at 10:24
They've built this up so much that's it's incredibly tense!
According to the article they've also got a guide rope the entire length; they already have their air tanks off and being carried by one of the pro divers (some sections you have to take it off to squeeze through); a pro diver front and back of each kid... And with the rains coming and after so much water pumping, this is the lowest they're going to get the water any time soon. Really hope for good news by this time tomorrow.
Starker on 8/7/2018 at 13:29
Six boys are out, according to multiple reports, though the Thai navy has only confirmed 4 so far.
Starker on 8/7/2018 at 14:21
In a press conference, the operation chief said that four boys have been rescued and nine people are still in the cave. It will take ten hours to prepare for the next stage of the mission.
Gryzemuis on 8/7/2018 at 17:42
I've read yesterday (before the rescue operation started) that the plan was to do it: 4, 3, 3, 3. The teacher will be one of the last 3. That makes sense, if you want to do it in 3 groups, you need to have at least one group of 5. If you want the largest group to be 4 kids, you need to have 4 operations anyway. There are 18 divers. Some of them are Thai, some are foreigners. Each boy will have 2 divers accompanying him. So in the first group of 4, they had 8 divers accompanying the 4 kinds. I assume they had more divers for overall control. Maybe 1 in front and 1 in the back ? That would mean they need 10 divers to get the first 4 boys out. And then 8 the next day to get the next 3 boys out. That would mean each team gets to do 2 operations, with a rest day in between. All makes sense. They also wrote that they'd take the weakest boys first. So the next 3 operations should be just as successful.
Stuff like this really upsets me. I'm not claustrofobic. (My dad is. He won't take an elevator. He always takes the stairs). But the thought of being underground, kilometers away from the surface, that really gets me. I sometimes almost feel smothery when just thinking about it. (I had to look that word up. There doesn't seem to be a good translation of the Dutch word "benauwd". Dyspnea maybe ?) Last few months I've been doing a lot of swimming to lose some weight (3x 1 hour per week now). I don't dislike swimming and I'm not afraid of water. But having to swim underwater, in a narrow passage, in the dark, while the water probably isn't clear, that's just terrifying. I hope it's only short passages that they need to swim underwater. Last week I lost my swimming goggles, they sank, and I had to dive them up from the floor of the swimming pool. Which is only 4 meters deep. But that was already tricky to do. In stead of diving from the ridge, I just swam down. Well, that was further than I thought. I thought my lungs would burst. Probably using a scuba-mask makes things easier. But it would take me a while to get used to that. Anyway, let's hope the boys get out safely in the next 2-3 days.
Remember those Chilean mine-workers ? 2010, 33 of them, 700 meters underground, trapped for 69 days.
(
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/639433/Chilean-miners-the-33-antontonio-banderas-juan-illanes-San-Jose-mine)
Man, why do people feel the need to go underground ?
Starker on 8/7/2018 at 18:46
There are 90 divers involved in the operation, 50 foreign and 40 Thai divers, but 18 of the most experienced are carrying out the rescue. It will only get more difficult from now on, though, as the monsoon rains have started. And the journey itself is a bit tricky to begin with:
Quote:
(
https://www.news18.com/news/world/how-four-thai-schoolboys-made-the-hazardous-escape-through-4km-of-pitch-darkness-1805163.html)
One cave explorer who has been inside the Tham Luang cave complex described it a "labyrinth", adding it was much more difficult to navigate than any other he had experienced.
The first, nearly 1 kilometre (0.6 mile) long section from where the boys have been huddling in darkness is believed to be the most difficult, requiring a long dive and crawling through mud and debris, with some crevices barely wide enough for a person.
"The hole is really small, I have to take off my air tank to crawl through it," a 25-year-old Thai Navy SEAL who declined to be named, told Reuters before the rescue attempt. "As I do, I feel the edges of the hole on both my back and chest."
The British Cave Rescue Council, which has sent seven divers to assist in the rescue, said the death of a former Thai Navy SEAL last Friday as he dived within the cave was a reminder of the risks.
"This demonstrates in stark terms, the dangers associated with the cave environment, especially those characterised by long sections of passage with deep water or those entirely filled with water," the association wrote on its website.
Once past that stretch, the boys' escape route forks east at a T-junction, and they must scrabble over some diverse terrain including giant boulders, sand and slippery rocks with sudden cliff-like drops and further submerged passageways.
An underground operations centre has been set up in the so-called "cavern 3", after which there is a further 2-kilometre journey to reach the mouth of the cave.
Gryzemuis on 9/7/2018 at 10:54
It seems they changed the plan from 4,3,3,3 to 4,5,4. The first boy of the second batch is out. The other 4 boys of the 2nd batch are still in the cave, but they have all passed the most dangerous points. Looking good.
Edit: 4 more boys out now. 4 Boys and their trainer still in the cave.
Supposedly the divers have gone back in. Nobody knows whether they will rescue the last 4 boys and their trainer today. Or maybe they are just putting back the resources for the last rescue-mission tomorrow. Fingers crossed.