Children missing in Thai cave found.

[eloisesparkle]

It appears the children and teacher have been found alive.
Has a miracle happened ?
I am so delighted and hope they will be ok after their horrific ordeal.
It's always nice to see good news as lately all the headlines are of something bad having happened.
Please forgive me if there is already a thread on this topic.

Bill Whitehouse, from the British Cave Rescue Council which is helping with the rescue, said the diving option was "certainly not easy".

He explained: "There's space to make your way through, but it is 50/50 underwater over 1.5km. That's still a lot of diving and it's possible it will need a lot of equipment."

He told BBC Radio 4: "The other alternative is that you literally bring them out in packages. In other words you fit them with diving equipment: a full face mask, instead of having a gag in your mouth like a lot of divers use; package them up; put the correct weights on them so that they are neutrally buoyant and are not going to get stuck again."

I think there must be concern that the current location can't be guaranteed to stay safe and that it too might flood .

I wondered about drilling down too. How long were the Chilean miners down there for? I am anxious thinking about the monsoon water levels.

DH and DS are getting all anxious about the football right now. I have told them to get some perspective

How do you mean package them, peridito?

And I can remember how far do they are, 800m? It's not so much the depth but the accuracy, and the potential for the roof of the cave to collapse in that they'd need to be sure of I would have thought. Would be ideal if they could but risky in it's own right.

Fresh I think the initial journey involved the divers fixing lines so maybe a quicker journey if not doing that ?

Think they're just over a mile from the entrance ?

Oh I see what you mean about packaging now.

Not that I;m more interested in this than the football .

(I am, caves are far better than football)

I like that graphic.

Me too ,I wonder how accurate the graphic is ? Makes it look as though not so much is under water ...can that be correct ?

( England have won the match now )

Full account of the misson so far from Chaing Mai, Thai news in English, well maybe the diagrams are still in Thai.

How did they get in there in the first place?

I can’t bear to read it. The thought of diving deep under water terrifies me. I tried it once and I absolutely hated it. Those poor boys.

How are they even alive (hypothermia, dehydration, starvation, panic)?
And how anyone think these children could learn to scuba under these conditions ... they can't even swim as I understand.

So glad they're found but so petrified for them now, poor lads. No idea what will happen next, my husband is a commercial diver and said he would struggle in those circumstances. He thinks he could do it, but it would be hard. And he's trained (not in cave diving obviously, but he explained to me about taking equipment off etc and how dark it would be).

I understand they were quite accustomed to rambling around these cave tunnles and went there as a 'birthday treat' for one of the boys. The reason they brought snacks and birthday candy along, as well as being familiar with the tunnels, is why thery're still alive. But going there in the first place, under adult supervision/encouragement, during rain season and without being able to swim just beggars belief imo.
Also v surprised to hear parents wantng to send in rice & pork parcels - coming safely out of starvation is a tricky medical process and needs to be carefully supervised.

Not to mention what the quality of air/oxygen level must be in their chamber. Scary stuff and far from a happy ending.

Those drivers are so brave, I couldn’t do that, dark water in caves and tunnels is my idea of hell, but thank goodness there are people like this in the world.

Another nice diagram from the great link posted by Pesty .Boy does the account give you an idea of what a vast amount of time ,effort and skills have been invested.

It’s featured in Newsnight just now bbc 2

The whole thing is bloody terrifying

He makes a good point : these boys are not rescued yet : not at all

There is a call out for full face masks in small and extra small. DD and I were discussing this earlier and neither of us has ever seen a really small full face mask, DD struggles to get one small enough.

The boys are off the left hand side of that diagram, peridito another 400m of flooded passage that has silted up with the flood waters.

Im beginning to wonder if they can still make it out. And heavens knows the physical and psychological damage. Even adjusting to light again never mind people and walking and food.

I’ve only just see this news. It’s utterly horrific. Leave them for months or teaching them to dive in those conditions. Jesus.

The other thing that’s Likely to happen : a lack of a co- ordinated organised rescue with so many agencies involved ! And nationality. How do those uk experienced cave rescuers make themselves heard ? And how do they resolve disputes amongst the rescuers , I think This is the greatest risk

Those poor parents

Yes it's horrific. I'd say f*cking go for it and drill asap. Can't stop thinking of Omayra Sánchez Garzón.
(trigger warning: child stuck in water dying slowly)

Spider the Thai Navy Seals are coordinating everything very well. The dive community is very international and the UK rescue divers seem to be working very well as part of a team (they would not have got that far into the flooded cave without a lot of help). Cave rescue divers don't do disputes.