Thailand’s elite Navy SEAL unit on Sunday said four of 12 boys stuck in a flooded cave in the northern province of Chiang Rai since June 23 have been rescued. The boys had entered the cave with their football coach. The operation has been suspended for the night.
The first two survivors were transferred to a field hospital just outside the cave entrance for a medical check-up before being transported to a hospital, The Nation quoted an unidentified official as saying.
The trapped boys have been divided into groups, The Guardian reported. Doctors have reportedly drawn up a priority evacuation list, with the weakest to be brought out first and the strongest in the end.
Thirteen foreign divers are helping five SEAL members rescue the boys through narrow and submerged passageways that claimed the life of former Thai Navy diver Saman Kunan on Friday.
Earlier on Sunday, the authorities ordered the media and others to evacuate the area around the cave. The rescue officials moved in as the water inside the cave complex fell to its lowest level in the last two weeks.
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