Thailand Soccer Team Cave Rescue Suspended For Night After Four More Rescued

Eight boys from a soccer team who were trapped in a cave in Thailand have been rescued, but more remain and now further rescue attempts have been suspended on what is the second day of these missions to get the boys out, reports CNN. Four were pulled out on Monday but four more plus their coach still remain on what will be their 17th night in the flooded Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex. Former Chiang Rai governor and rescue mission commander Narongsak Osotthanakorn said that the four who were rescued Monday were in better condition than the four who were rescued the day before but all have been quarantined at the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital just in case they picked up any illnesses while trapped on the cave’s ledge — 2.5 miles inside the cave system.

It is unclear why operations have been suspended Monday but officials on Sunday said the rescues had been put on pause because oxygen tanks which had been used for the rescue missions needed to be refilled.

“The rescue workers, who are now resting, need at least 20 hours to prepare for the third operation, Osotthanakorn said, but timings could change depending on weather and water levels,” reports CNN.

The 12 boys and their soccer coach have been inside the cave since they first entered on June 23. With their ages ranging between 11 and 16, they became trapped when a heavy downpour ended up flooding the cave’s entrance. Help from other countries arrived and it was two British divers who found them last Monday. Once that happened, all of the teams from far and wide, including rescue workers from Australia, China, and other countries, mobilized to come up with a plan that could save the team as quickly as possible. With so many having been rescued, the once-dire mood has lifted as those working so hard to save the team finally have a reason to celebrate.

Yesterday, Elon Musk, the billionaire inventor and SpaceX founder, revealed that he and his team designed a kid-sized submarine to try to rescue the soccer team and he also shared video of his team testing it, as reported previously by Inquisitr.

“Musk offered the services of his engineers at Space X and The Boring Company to the Thai government so that they could use their years of expertise to help get the boys and their coach to safety. It took mere hours for them to devise a plan,” according to Inquisitr. It isn’t currently known if their plan was incorporated into the recent successful rescue missions.