INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Rains have been flooding the cave, making rescue challenging.Bangkok: A mission to rescue a group of boys and their soccer coach trapped in
a flooded cave in Thailand resumed on Monday, the chief of the mission said, after the first four boys rescued were judged healthy as they
recovered in hospital.The dangerous bid to rescue the boys - aged between 11 and 16 - got going again after a break from late on Sunday to
replenish oxygen supplies and make other preparations deep inside the cave complex in northern Thailand's Chiang Rai province.Authorities
have said the mission could take three or four days to complete."We have sent the team in at around 11 a.m
(0400 GMT) Hopefully we will have good news in a few hours," the head of the rescue mission, Narongsak Osottanakorn, told a news
conference.Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand's elite navy SEAL unit make up the main team guiding the boys to safety
through narrow, submerged passageways that claimed the life of a former Thai navy diver on Friday.Narongsak said that the "same
multinational team" that went into the cave on Sunday to retrieve the first four boys was deployed on Monday.The second phase of rescue ops
in underway. He did not say how many boys the team hoped to bring out on Monday.The "Wild Boars" soccer team and their coach set out to
explore the vast Tham Luang cave complex after soccer practice on June 23, and got trapped when a rainy season downpour flooded the
tunnels.British divers found the 13, huddled on a muddy bank in a partly flooded chamber several kilometres inside the complex, on Monday
last week.Then the problem became how to get them out as more rainy season showers loomed.The rescue began on Sunday
Divers held the first four boys close to bring them out, and each had to wear an oxygen mask to enable normal breathing, authorities
said.Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda told reporters the rescued boys were in good health in hospital but did not give details.Infection
FearsAuthorities have not confirmed the identity of the first four boys rescued
Some of the boys' parents told Reuters they had not been told who had been rescued and that they were not allowed to visit the
hospital.Narongsak said the rescued boys had not been identified out of respect for the families whose sons were still trapped, adding that
the boys were being kept away from their parents due to fear of infection."The four children are well at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital
But they still need to be kept away from their parents and others due to fear about infection," he said.Friends and classmates prayed for
the safety of the boys trapped in the cave. Medical teams previously said concerns included hypothermia and an airborne lung infection
known as "cave disease", which is caused by bat and bird droppings.Somboon Sompiangjai, 38, the father of one of the trapped boys, said
parents were told by rescuers ahead of Sunday's operation the "strongest children" would be brought out first."We have not been told which
child has been brought out We can't visit our boys in hospital because they need to be monitored for 48 hours," Somboon told Reuters."I'm
hoping for good news today," he said. World Cup FinalAt least nine ambulances loaded with stretchers and blue oxygen tanks waited by the
mouth of the cave on Monday
Soldiers, medics, engineers and volunteers in yellow shirts milled around but the mood was relaxed."I feel very happy, everybody is happy,"
said Hnin Jaiwong, the mother of one of the trapped boys, 13-year-old Sompong Jaiwong."I don't know if he is out, they didn't tell us," she
said as she rested in a hut close to the mouth of the cave.The cave complex is off-limits during the rainy season, which usually runs from
May to October, when downpours can quickly flood it.Relatives said the boys had been inside the labyrinthine complex during the dry
season.The fate of the boys and their coach has gripped Thailand and drawn international media attention.The president of soccer's governing
body, FIFA, has invited the boys to the World Cup final in Moscow on Sunday if they make it out in time.© Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for
the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
