Thailand cave rescue: British divers join search for 12 missing boys and their football coach

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US military forces and British divers have joined efforts to rescue 12 boys and their football coach trapped inside a cave for five days in northern Thailand.

Heavy overnight rains hampered rescue efforts on Wednesday into Thursday. Rising water levels meant authorities were forced to switch off crucial water pumps over fear of electrical hazards.

Power was installed a few days earlier to provide lights and better communications and pump out water.

The missing boys, aged 11 to 16, and 25-year-old coach entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province on Saturday afternoon.

Thai military personnel gather as flood waters rise inside the cave
EPA

The cave complex extends several miles with narrow passageways and uneven ground and is known to flood severely in rainy season.

Despite being flooded by near-constant rains, authorities have expressed hope that there are dry places on higher ground within the cave where the group may be able to wait.

US Special Operations Command Pacific Search and Rescue team personnel walk out of the cave
AP

Major General Bancha Duriyapat said Thai navy SEALs, UK cave-diving experts and a US military team had been inside the cave and rescuers were continuing to work despite the wet weather and setbacks.

Deputy national police chief Wirachai Songmetta said he would join more than 600 rescuers above ground trying to find shafts that might be possible entrances into the cave.

Three British cave-divers, Richard William Stanton, Robert Charles Harper and John Volanthen (left to right) arrive on Wednesday
AFP/Getty Images

"We won't give up. That's the key here," he said as he got into a vehicle that was part of a convoy carrying rescuers.

Concerned relatives of the missing children have been spending the nights in tents outside the cave entrance as the rain poured. On Thursday morning, a Buddhist monk led a prayer for a small group of them.

Relatives pray at a Buddhist ceremony in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park
Getty Images

US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii confirmed a US team of about 30 people was sent to assist the search, while three British cave diving experts arrived at the scene late on Wednesday.

Anmar Mirza, national coordinator of the National Cave Rescue Commission in the US and editor of the book Manual of US Cave Rescue Techniques, said that in a situation like this it would seem there were only two things that could be done: pump the water down and search for alternative entrances.

Rescue personnel walk out of the entrance to a cave complex
AP

If there were a high-quality map, drilling would be another possibility, but that is extremely difficult for a number of reasons and could also take days to weeks, he said, adding that it was important not to take needless risks.

He said the youth and health of the boys is to their advantage and if the cave is not too cold, they should be able to survive four to five days with no water and a month or more with water but no food.

"The biggest concern is them getting desperate and trying to enter swift moving water," he said.

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