INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Heavy rains could make the water rise to the shelf where the children are sitting
(AFP)Mae Sai, Thailand: Conditions are "perfect" to evacuate a young football team from a flooded Thai cave in the coming days before fresh
rains and a possible rise in carbon dioxide further imperil the group, the rescue mission chief said Saturday.The plight of 12 Thai boys and
their coach from the "Wild Boar" football team has transfixed Thailand since they became trapped in a cramped chamber of the Tham Luang cave
complex on June 23. Rescuers have conceded that evacuating the boys is a race against time with monsoon rains expected to undo days of
round-the-clock drainage of the deluged cave.More than 100 exploratory holes have been bored -- some shallow, but the longest 400 metres
deep -- into the mountainside in an attempt to open a second evacuation route and avoid forcing the boys into a dangerous dive through
submerged tunnels."Now and in the next three or four days, the conditions are perfect (for evacuation) in terms of the water, the weather
and the boys' health," Narongsak Osottanakorn the chief of the rescue operation told reporters."We have to make a clear decision on what we
can do."Rescuers have fed a kilometres-long air pipe into the cave to restore oxygen levels in the chamber where the team are sheltering,
accompanied by medics and expert divers."When we're in a confined space if the oxygen drops to 12 percent the human body starts to slow down
and people can fall unconscious," Narongsak said. "There's also carbon dioxide
If the oxygen levels are down and the carbon dioxide levels are up, then you can get too much carbon dioxide in your blood."Heavy rains
could make the water rise to the shelf where the children are sitting, reducing the area to "less than 10 square meters," he added, citing
estimates from cave divers and experts.In the early hours of Saturday morning he said the boys were not yet ready to dive-out of the cave, a
complex and dangerous task through twisting and jagged submerged passageways.But his comments 12 hours later suggest the thinking has
changed, with water levels inside the cave currently managed to their lowest point by constant drainage.'I love you Dad, Mum' Earlier on
Saturday Thai Navy SEALS published touching notes scrawled by the trapped footballers to their families, who are waiting for them
agonisingly close-by outside the cave entrance.The children urged relatives "not to worry" and asked for their favourite food once they are
safely evacuated.In one Pheerapat, nicknamed "Night", whose 16th birthday the group were celebrating in the cave when they became stuck on
June 23, said:"I love you, Dad, Mum and my sister
You don't need to be worried about me."Meanwhile the 25-year-old coach Ekkapol Chantawong, the only adult to accompany the boys into the
cave, sent his "apologies" to their parents. "To all the parents, all the kids are still fine
I promise to take the very best care of the kids," he said in a note given to divers on Friday."Thank you for all the moral support and I
apologise to the parents."The boys are being trained in the basics of diving in case the floodwaters force authorities into a sudden
'Limited time'The risks were underlined by the death on Friday of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver, who ran out of oxygen while returning
from the chamber where the boys are trapped.Saman Kunan had been trying to establish the air line when he passed out and perished."We lost
one man, but we still have faith to carry out our work," Navy Seal commander Apakorn Yookongkaew said, adding that rescuers have "a limited
time" to extract the boys.Ekkapol's message is the first from the coach, whose role in the team's predicament has split Thai social
media.Many have lauded him after reports he gave his share of food to the kids before they were located and helped them get through nine
days in the darkness.Others have criticised him for agreeing to take the young boys into the cave during the monsoon season.The group became
trapped deep inside the cave after flood waters gushed in.
