Thai cave rescue operation now underway, officials confirm

An operation to rescue 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from deep inside a cave where they have been trapped for two weeks has begun, a Thai governor says.

Security forces have closed down the media camp at the Chiang Rai site, with security screens placed around the cave area where the group are trapped.

Acting Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osatanakorn told reporters “today is D-Day” with 13 foreigner and five Thai divers taking part in the rescue.

A row of ambulances have arrived on scene, while at least four helicopters remain on stand-by.

The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach became stranded when they went exploring in the cave after a practice game. Monsoon flooding cut off their escape and prevented rescuers from finding them for almost 10 days.

Thai authorities demanded media and non-essential personnel on Sunday to relocate from the camp site at the base of the cave. The order came a day after the rescue mission chief said conditions were perfect for the evacuation to begin, and as fears mount that coming rains could thwart the plan.

“Assessing the situation now, it is necessary to evacuate the area for the rescue operation,” Mae Sai police commander Komsan Sa-ardluan told the media over a loudspeaker.

“Everyone who is not involved with the operations has to get out of the area immediately.

“From the situation assessment, we need to use the area to help victims.”

Reporters have also been warned against taking photos during the rescue.

At the start of the weekend Mr Narongsak said that the boys were not ready to make the trip, but later Saturday he suggested that there was a window to try.

“Now and in the next three or four days, the conditions are perfect [for evacuation] in terms of the water, the weather and the boys’ health,” Mr Narongsak told reporters.

Seven News chief reporter Chris Reason described watching as volunteer divers communicated with colleagues on the inside of the cave, appearing to be telling them the rescue mission was underway.

Veteran rescue diver Butch Hendrick, who is president of Lifeguard Systems in the US, told Sunrise this morning his contacts said the boys have been taught diving signals, to use their hands to communicate.

They have also been shown how to use the regulators and oxygen masks as they try to make their way out of this cave system, which Mr Hendrick added the Thai government has confirmed.

“The water rising and the flow increasing means that the current is increasing and that the speed and force of the water will make it even more difficult to bring them out. The command is caught in a situation, oxygen is dropping, the water is rising, they need to do something and do it now. “

The soccer team, named the “Wild Boars”, has been confined in the Tham Luang cave since June 23, when they entered after practice and were hemmed in by rising floodwaters.

An internal US government report indicated the first phase of the rescue mission would involve staging equipment and clearing obstacles in the cave, the ABC reported.

A “buddy dive” would be the second phase of the plan, where the soccer team and their coach will be accompanied by an experienced diver out of the cave network.

Weather.com forecast sustained thunderstorms lasting through Sunday and Monday, with further stormy weather expected for around the next two weeks.