Thailand cave rescue: Extraction mission of remaining 5 underway

Eight boys have been saved from the underground cave network in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, with the rescue of the five remaining now underway. Meanwhile, American businessman Elon Musk is in the country to lend a hand in the rescue operations of the underaged soccer team and their coach.

As of Monday afternoon, eight boys have been rescued from the Tham Luang cave complex, leaving four more boys and their 25-year-old soccer coach still trapped inside. The first batch of boys, four of them, were rescued Sunday evening.

All rescued boys have been placed in quarantine. It’s feared that they might get infection while they are still weak. They might also have contacted pathogens when they were trapped in the cave. It was reported that their parents were not informed which of the boys were freed.

According to a health official during a press conference, the first four boys rescued are now able to eat soft food. However, all of the boys suffer a variety of ailments, including fevers, mild coughs and low heart rates. Two of them may also have lung infection.

The third extraction operation, in which the team of local and international rescuers would attempt to extract the remaining boys and the coach, Ekapol Chantawong, from the cave, have begun as of Tuesday, 10 a.m. local time (1 p.m. AEST).

Musk in Thailand

Musk previously said he was sending a device by made by his SpaceX and The Boring Company that would bring the children back to safety. His engineers were working on a “tiny, kid-size submarine” that would come from parts from a Falcon 9 rocket. That was one of the options, but it didn’t seem possible to use it yet.

It appears, though, that he has also flown to the Southeast Asian nation to personally see to his team’s efforts. The billionaire posted their progress on his social media accounts. On one of his tweets, he said their mini-sub was ready if needed. He named it Wild Boar, after the kids’ soccer team (Moo Pa), and he would leave it in the country in case it would be needed in the future.

1 dead from the rescue team

The three-kilometre dive from where the boys were stranded to the chamber three, or the rescue base, is a perilous journey full of narrow and dark passages. The death of the Thai navy SEAL last week due to lack of oxygen has even emphasised how dangerous the mission is even for experienced diver. Navy Petty Officer 1^st Class Saman Kuman’s body was sent to Bangkok, where he would receive a royal-sponsored funeral.