Thai cave rescue ends as last boys and coach are freed
A three-day international operation brought twelve boys and their football coach out of the flooded Tham Luang cave system after more than two weeks trapped underground.
The last members of a youth football team trapped deep inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand were brought safely to the surface on Tuesday, ending an 18-day ordeal that gripped the world and drew rescuers and divers from across the globe.
The twelve boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach had entered the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province in late June when sudden monsoon rains flooded the passages behind them, cutting off their exit. They were found alive nine days later by British divers, huddled on a muddy ledge more than four kilometres from the entrance.
Getting them out proved even harder than finding them. The route involved long, pitch-black dives through narrow, silt-filled passages that challenged even elite cave divers. Each boy, many of whom could not swim, was sedated and guided out one at a time by a pair of divers over three tense days.
The operation was not without cost. Saman Kunan, a former Thai navy SEAL, died while delivering air tanks along the route, a loss that underscored the danger of the mission.
When the final group emerged, cheers erupted at the cave mouth and across Thailand. The rescue became a rare story of international cooperation, drawing specialists from Britain, Australia, the United States, China and beyond, and a reminder of how far strangers will go to save children they have never met.