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Thai cave rescue: Reports a fifth boy has emerged after weeks trapped in dark
A MISSION to rescue the remaining nine people trapped in a flooded Thai cave system began midafternoon as the same divers who brought the first four boys to safety go in again.
THERE are unconfirmed reports a fifth boy has emerged from the Thai cave system where a football team and their coach have been incarcerated for more than two weeks.
It comes as increasingly upbeat authorities said on Monday they expected the rescues of the nine remaining people in the Tham Luang cave system, in Chiang Rai province in the country’s north, to be faster than expected.
On Monday evening, news service Reuters reported rescue workers had carried a person on a stretcher away from the cave complex and into a waiting ambulance, according to a witness.
Local reports suggest the boy emerged at 4.23pm local time (7.23pm AEST).
If confirmed, they would be the first person to come out of the cave on the second day of the rescue mission to retrieve the group trapped in the flooded cave since June 23.
An operation to rescue the remaining nine people trapped in a flooded Thai cave system is in full swing as the same divers who brought the first four boys to safety go in again. The
Bangkok Post has reported a group of boys has now reached chamber three in the tunnels — around two kilometres from the exit and beyond the most treacherous parts of the system.
A video grab handout made available by the Thai Navy SEALs shows some of the members of a soccer team in a section of Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Photo by Thai Navy SEALs via Getty Images.Source:Getty Images
At a press conference on Monday afternoon, Narongsak Osottanakorn, former Governor of Chiang Rai province and the head of the joint command centre co-ordinating the operation, said rescue teams re-entered the cave system at 11am local time on Monday (2pm Sydney time).
Despite the many challenges ahead, and the death of one diver days ago, he struck an upbeat note: “I expect in the next hours we will have good news.” He said he hoped the second phase would be “quicker” than the first operation to extract four boys due to lower water levels.