The British divers who found the team on July 2 took this photo of the players.

Tham Luang Rescue Operation Center via AP

A Daring Rescue

Divers save a youth soccer team trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.

On July 10, people around the world cheered as divers in northern Thailand rescued the last of the members of a boys’ soccer team from a flooded cave. The12 Wild Boars players—ages 11 to 16—and their coach had been trapped inside the cave for more than two weeks. With more flooding expected and oxygen levels dropping inside the cave, the rescue had been a race against time. 

“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what,” read a post on the Thai Navy SEAL Facebook page on Tuesday night. “All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave.”

Jim McMahon

The Tham Luang cave system is located in a park in northern Thailand. 

No Way Out

The ordeal began on June 23,when the team went exploring in the Tham Luang cave after practice. They had hiked about 2 miles into the underground cave when a monsoon struck and quickly flooded many of the cave’s passageways, cutting off the team’s exit route and leaving no way out. The team scrambled to safety on a ledge inside the cave, where they watched the murky waters rise—and hoped that help would arrive soon.

A few hours after the team entered the cave, searchers found their bikes and soccer cleats near the entrance. Officials realized that the team was probably trapped inside, but locating the athletes would not be easy. 

Divers from the Thai Navy SEALs and other rescue groups began frantically searching. Soon, other countries, including the United States, sent more teams in to help. The specially trained divers searched the vast cave system while rescuers pumped water out of the cave.

Two British divers finally located the soccer team 10 days after they had disappeared. After days with no food and only tiny sips of water from the walls of the cave, the team members were weak and hungry. But amazingly, they were all still alive.

Officials were not sure how to get the team out of the cave safely. Waiting for the floodwaters to go down was one option, but that could take months, and there were more monsoons in the forecast.

Another idea was to give the boys diving gear and have divers lead them through the water. But that would be risky: Some of the passageways were very narrow, and few of the team members knew how to swim. 

While experts figured out a rescue plan, Thai Navy SEALs brought food and oxygen tanks to the team, and a doctor and several divers stayed inside the cave with the athletes. The players were even able to send letters out to their families.

“Dad, Mom don’'t worry about me,” wrote 11-year-old Chanin Viboonrungruang. “I am fine. Please tell (my aunt) to take me to eat fried chicken. Love you all.”

Xinhua News Agency via Newscom

Chinese rescue team members prepare to rescue the trapped players and their coach on July 3.

Rescue Mission

On July 6, the situation grew more urgent when a rescue diver ran out of oxygen and died while delivering supplies in the cave. Experts realized the oxygen level in some parts of the cave was about 15 percent and dropping. Oxygen levels below 16 percent can lead to oxygen depletion, which causes drowsiness, nausea, diminished thinking capabilities, and in extreme cases, death. It was time to act.

Starting on July 8, more than 90 divers from around the world began a massive rescue operation. Two divers guided one boy at a time through the water-filled tunnels. They had placed extra tanks of oxygen along the exit route so they would have enough air. The water was muddy, and some parts of the cave were so dark that divers could barely see their hands in front of their faces. Each rescue took several hours.

By July 10, the entire team and their coach had been rescued. They were taken to a hospital, and two boys were being treated for pneumonia. Doctors will continue to observe the team for a few days. One thing they’ll monitor for is histoplasmosis, or cave disease, a lunginfection caused by breathing in fungus often found in bird and bat droppings. 

But for now, the world is celebrating the dramatic rescue, with some people calling it a miracle. 

“12 wild boars and coach out of the cave,” the Thai Navy divers posted on social media. “Hooyah!”

Close Reading & Discussion Questions

 

1) Why was the rescue mission a “race against time”?

2) Summarize how the soccer team got stuck in the cave.

3) How did officials know to look for the team inside the cave?

4) According to the article, why was it risky to have the boys and their coach dive through the flooded cave to escape?

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