8 days after 13 boys and others go missing in Thai cave, muddy water hinders search

Eight days have passed since 13 boys and others went missing from Tham Luang Cave on the outskirts of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, but rescue efforts are proving difficult.

Approximately 2,000 people are searching day and night with help from overseas, but their path is blocked by large amounts of murky water that has accumulated in the cave. The boys' families are staying at the scene, hoping for their return. The missing persons are a boy between the ages of 11 and 16 and a male coach from the same soccer team.

On June 23, he visited Tham Luang Cave, about 50 kilometers north of central Chiang Rai, and when he entered the cave, it was apparently flooded with water due to heavy rain and he was unable to get out. The boys' bicycles were left at the entrance to the cave. According to the Thai Navy and other sources, the boys are believed to have taken refuge in a large cavity located about 5 kilometers from the cave entrance.

Military divers have been searching through the night, but most of the cave is filled with so murky water that you can't see beyond 10 centimeters, and even with pumps, the water level is slow to reduce due to heavy rain every day. It's the state. The divers have set up a relay point about 1.5 kilometers from the entrance and are making progress little by little. They have also begun an experiment in which plastic boxes filled with first aid supplies and food are poured into the cave, and when the boys receive them, they are asked to write their whereabouts and return them.



The U.S. military dispatched a rescue team to the scene.

Cave explorers from the UK and other countries volunteered their time, and Japan's Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) sent agricultural irrigation experts. On the 1st, a team of divers from the Australian Federal Police also joined the team. Nearly 2,000 people, including the Thai military and police, are working to help. The Thai navy said they were ``certainly approaching the location of the boys,'' as they searched by breaking rocks from outside the cave and searching from other entrances. There is hope that the boys are getting drinking water inside the cave, and a military official said, ``We believe that the boys will survive.'' Meanwhile, the boys' families are waiting in a tent near the cave for their children to return.

There is lodging available nearby, but most parents say they take a nap in the tent's chairs to get an idea of ​​the situation. On the 1st, a mother in her 30s whose eldest son went missing said, ``Yesterday was my son's 14th birthday.I really wanted to celebrate him, but right now I just want him to be safe.'' He spoke tiredly. (Chiang Rai = Ryuta Somedaya) <Asahi Shimbun Digital>

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