Thai soccer team & Coach all rescued!

The last of the Thai soccer players and their coach trapped deep in a flooded cave for days on end have seen an end to their ordeal after a final push by rescuers to free them.

All of the boys and their coach had been rescued by 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the Thai Navy SEALs posted on Facebook.

“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what. All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave,” it said, also adding a “Hooyah.”

Those rescuers who had been with the boys in the cave were also coming back up to the light of day.

Thai authorities and a team of international experts have been working to get the boys out since they were found last Monday, a “miracle” discovery after they went missing during an outing of June 23.

Rescue head Narongsak Osottanakorn said that the last five members of the “Wild Boars” team stuck in the cave Tham Luang would be brought out to join their eight teammates already saved in one final push after rescuers had learned how to navigate its caverns more quickly.

The missions into the cave take almost half a day to complete, with Monday’s and Tuesday’s effort quicker at 9 hours.

Rescuers had dealt with danger from heavy rain from Monday, though they have said that the water levels in the cave have not been dramatically affected as they brought the boys through fast moving water and passages that at some points were only two-feet wide.

Attention has also turned towards helping the young men, aged 11 to 16, recover from the more than two weeks spent underground, and health officials have said that at least two have lung infections.

The boys were able to eat spicy food and at least some had seen their parents from behind a glass barrier.

Osottanakorn had said during the first rescue day, on Sunday, that the strongest boys would come out first, though it is not clear if those left in the cave are in the weakest condition.

Ekapol Chanthawong, the 25-year-old coach who previously wrote a letter to parents apologizing for getting stuck in the cave with their children, is reportedly suffering from malnutrition after giving much of his food to the boys.

Though they have escaped the cave, the lives of the Wild Boars will likely take time before going back to normal, as their situation has attracted the attention of viewers from around the world.

Journalists were cordoned off from the entrance to the cave itself, though one Polish reporter for Tvn24 was arrested after allegedly flying a drone near the action, according to his station.

Some observers had floated the idea that they could could go to the World Cup final in Moscow on Sunday, though it is unclear if steps have been made in that direction or if they will be healthy enough to do so.

Source: Dailynews