After days of rescue attempts, the final four boys remaining in the cave with their coach were all saved today after more than 2 weeks of being trapped underground. They have now been ferried to a hospital in the city of Chiang Rai.
The Thai navy Seal unit made the announcement on its official Facebook page, writing: "The 12 Wild Boars and coach have emerged from the cave and they are safe. Hooyah."
The "Wild Boars" soccer team, consisting of boys aged between 11 and 16, and their coach got trapped on 23 June while exploring the cave complex in the northern province of Chiang Rai after soccer practice and a rainy season downpour flooded the tunnels. They were not found until last week after which rescue operations immediately began. Sadly, one of the rescuers died during the rescue mission.
The 11th rescued child is reported by Thai media to be the youngest member of the team, 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungruang, whose nickname is Titan.
8 members had already been rescued as at yesterday before the operation was halted and resumed today. Then mission to extract the remaining four and their coach began on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, three boys have been rescued today. They were "carried out on stretchers" and into an ambulance.
The governor of the rescue mission said Tuesday's operation will be more difficult than the previous two days, due to the increased number of people who need to be evacuated, but he expects that "everybody will be out today."
The first eight to be evacuated have all been given inoculations against rabies and tetanus, and are all being treated with antibiotics amid fears they may have been bitten by disease-carrying bats inside the huge underground network.
The boys are weak and ravenously hungry, Thailand's public health chief Dr Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk revealed, but have been laughing and joking with staff and officials. Among the first things the children told medical staff were "we miss home" and "we're happy", he added.
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