The Rescue Of Thai Soccer Team Could Take Months Now That The Situation Has Been Assessed

With the exciting news that the Thai soccer team has been found alive and in relatively good health, efforts then turned to how to extract the trapped group. However, with monsoon season kicking into high gear, it seems likely now that the group will be trapped for up to four months before it is safe enough to rescue them.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, now that the Thai soccer team has been found by two British divers and the situation assessed, efforts will center on the best way to free the trapped group. There are several options available.

During search efforts, a group has been focused on trying to reach the trapped group via holes or “chimneys” linking down to the cave system from the surface. A few possibilities have been located, but this method is not likely to commence as it is unclear if these locations definitely link to the cave involved.

There is the option of having the group, which consists of 12 boys aged from 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach, wait it out until monsoon season is over and have them walk out of the cave system. If this plan is enacted, the group will be trapped for up to four months while the weather improves.

The other option, and one that was gaining traction after a recent tweet from Thai News of MCOT asking for a donation of “15 small-sized full face masks,” is that the boys are taught how to dive so that they can be extracted quickly from the flooded cave. However, a recent interview with a member of the international cave team assisting the Thai Navy Seals indicates that this is not viable for the group.

As BBC points out, rescuers want to take “zero risks” when it comes to rescuing the group.

According to Ben Reymenants in an interview with NBC Today, the best option is to send in supplies and have the Thai soccer team wait out monsoon season.

There are major issues with teaching the group to dive, including the fact that none of the group have been involved in diving before and the dive is treacherous, even for experienced divers. Added to this complication is the fact that the boys can’t swim either.

“They can’t swim, so they definitely can’t dive,” Reymenants revealed to NBC Today before elaborating further.

“The easiest [option] would be that they [people trying to rescue those in the cave] keep pumping the water out of the cave. They need another three or four feet so they can literally float them out with life jackets, but time is not on their side. They’re expecting heavy thunderstorms and rain which might flood the entire cave system, making the rescue impossible at that stage.”

In order to have the Thai soccer team remain in the cave until monsoon season has passed, food and medical supplies will be sent in along with medical personnel.

“Two Thai Navy doctors have volunteered to be locked up inside the cave … a huge sacrifice,” Reymenants said.

Ben Reymenants has stated that the group is in good spirits mentally, so they should be able to cope with the long stay inside the Thai cave. However, even though they are “quite responsive,” the group, as a whole, are “very weak and very skinny.”

You can view the full interview with NBC Today below.