Thai Cave Rescue Update: Four More Boys Saved, Four Remain With Coach

Thanks to tireless work by international rescue teams, four more boys have been rescued from a cave in Thailand. However, the last four boys remain stuck in the cave with their 25-year-old soccer coach until the next mission.

At approximately 4:30 p.m. local time on Monday, the first boy was spotted on a stretcher headed to a hospital in Chiang Rai, where the first four boys to be rescued are.

This rescue effort began at 11 a.m. local time after re-filling supplies from Sunday’s successful mission. A family member told CNN the boys who have been rescued and those who remain in the cave have been unidentified. The soccer players who have been hospitalized have yet to see their families.

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The boys are currently being quarantined for one to two days due to the risk of infections or diseases they may have contracted while living in the cave since June 23.

“The next step is to make sure those kids and their families are safe because living in a cave has a different environment which might contain animals that could transmit any disease,” a hospital statement said.

The last four boys and their coach are waiting on a muddy ledge within the cave that’s about 2.5 miles from the entrance. They’re reportedly surrounded by floodwater with a dwindling supply of oxygen.

 

The next rescue effort is planned for Tuesday, according to mission commander Narongsak Osotthanakorn. He also said all of the boys that have been saved are in good condition, but didn’t elaborate on specifics.

Family members of the soccer players said they trust their coach to take care of them under the life-threatening conditions:

“Coach Ek, he loves those kids very much. Then kids prefer to go out with him — wherever their coach invites to go,” Thamma Kantawong told CNN. “Children’s mothers trust him that he can take care of their child pretty well, because he loves kids very much.”