Electricians are extending a power line into a flooded cave in northern Thailand to help the search and rescue efforts for 12 boys and their soccer coach stranded three nights in the sprawling caverns and cut off by rising water.
Rescuers led by elite navy divers were forced to suspend their search Monday night due to flooding but were to resume Tuesday.
The boys, aged 11-15, and their 25-year-old coach were believed to have entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province late Saturday afternoon. A mother reported that her son did not return from soccer practice that day, setting off the search.
The rising water frustrated efforts by the rescuers, including navy SEALs, to search farther in the cave, which is thought to be about 6-8 kilometers (4-5 miles) long and contain some large chambers. By Monday evening, officials decided to pull out temporarily.
Around midnight, Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osottanakorn was with rescue teams and electricians working on extending a power line 1 kilometer (.6 miles) into the cave.
“We hope this would provide lights for work and fans for ventilation for the SEAL team,” Narongsak said. “Also, it means we can use electric engines to pump water out from the cave as well.”
Parents waited overnight in tents outside the cave entrance as rain continued to pour. Medics sat in a nearby tent as a few floodlights burned in the front chambers of the cave. The boys’ bicycles, backpacks and soccer cleats remained at the entrance.
“We went in a few kilometers and were able to enter a second chamber behind the entrance. In that chamber,…
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