Twelve Thai boys and their football coach who were trapped in a flooded cave and lost for nine days may be stuck there for months before they can be rescued. The 'rake thin' schoolboys, who were found
starving but unhurt by British volunteer divers John Volanthen and Rick Stanton on Monday, may have to survive in the cave until October when water levels subside at the end of monsoon season. Cave experts say it would be 'unbelievably
dangerous' to try to get the boys out while the waters are still high with more heavy rains
expected over the next few days. Authorities are now considering teaching the boys - none of whom can swim - how to dive so they can be guided out of the Thamg Luang cave
network in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand.
In the meantime, two Navy SEAL doctors have agreed to stay with the group as rescuers send them food to last four months.
The footballers - who are unharmed apart from two with 'light injuries' - have been given energy gels and paracetamol while a phone cable is being installed so they can speak to their shattered parents.
Teams have been pumping 10,000 litres of water out of the caves every hour - but this is only enough to lower the level by one centimeter.
'We will prepare to send additional food to be sustained for at least four months and train all 13 to dive while continuing to drain the water,'
Thai Navy Captain Anand Surawan said on Tuesday.
Ben Reymenants, a Belgian diver who is part of the team supporting the rescue mission, said the boys could be cut off if the expected rains are severe.
'Time is not on our side - we're expecting heavy rain in three days', he told BBC Newsnight on
Monday. 'If the cave system (floods) it would make access impossible to the kids.' Edd Sorenson, of International Cave Rescue and Recovery, told BBC News that swimming out of
the cave is 'extremely dangerous' and it would be safer for the boys to wait because they may panic in the water.
'As long as the kids know we know where they're at, they have food, a way to keep warm, water
or filtration systems and light, it would really be the safest to wait it out.
'Taking them in the water would be extremely dangerous for the kids and the coach - but also
for the rescuers.'
The boys and their 25-year-old coach were found on a mud bank 6ft above the water level, 3 miles into the six mile network of caves.
The pair of British divers who found them were part of an increasingly desperate search mission launched after the group vanished when the
caves they were exploring flooded on June 23.
Footage filmed by the rescuers emerged yesterday showing the starved schoolboys asking: 'What day is it?'
News of the group all being found alive sparked scenes of jubilation across Thailand , where the public has nervously waited for news of the
team's fate as family members held vigils praying for their rescue. The emaciated and frightened boys were found
perched on rocks deep in the cave in the north of the country.
Dramatic footage showed the moment two British divers, part of an international team of
experts scouring the sprawling cave system for the group, first made contact.
Barely believing their success, one of the divers asked: 'How many of you [are there]?' When one boy replied 'thirteen', the rescuer exclaimed:
'Thirteen? Brilliant!'
They reassured the group, who were huddled together with their coach with baggy football
shirts pulled over their knees, that more help was on the way.
But hopes of a speedy resolution to the incident
were on a knife-edge today due to the forecast rains.
Diver Mr Reymenants said he agreed with BBC interviewer Emily Maitlis's assertion that the group could be trapped 'for weeks to come yet until they are strong enough'.
'None of them can swim or dive so that's going to be a real challenge,' he added.
Experts will meet today to start planning in detail how to extract the group from the place
they were found more than a mile underground.
In the footage showing the moment they were found, one of the divers urges the group to stay calm and reassures them 'many, many people are coming... we are the first'.
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