Thai Official: All 12 Boys Rescued from Flooded Cave in Good Condition
Last group of four football players, coach rescued from cave Tuesday on third consecutive day of daring rescue
— A Thai government official says all 12 boys and their football (soccer) coach are in generally good condition a day after the last group was guided to safety out of a flooded cave. The first still images of the boys recovering in a Chiang Rai hospital were released Wednesday, showing many of them in seemingly good condition. The images also showed the parents of the boys looking at their children through a glass window. The parents have reportedly not been able to see their children except through windows as they recover. All 12 boys are currently in quarantine to prevent them from contracting any kind of infection from their families. Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, a public health inspector, told reporters in Chaing Rai Wednesday that the boys lost an average weight of two kilograms during their more than two week ordeal in the Tham Luang complex. Four boys were rescued Sunday, and another four guided to safety on Monday. The remaining boys and their coach were pulled out Tuesday. Thongchai says one of the boys in the last group is being treated for a slight lung infection. Two of the boys rescued in the previous two attempts were also being treated for a lung infection. Thai Navy SEALs also posted images and a video documenting some of their operations in the caves on their Facebook page Wednesday. Thirteen international divers and five Thai Navy SEALs were involved in the rescue operation. One volunteer, former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Gunan, died Friday while placing spare air tanks along the escape route. He ran out of air trying to swim out of the cave. None of the trapped boys had ever been diving before and some didn't know how to swim. Two divers were helping each one make his way through very narrow tunnels that twist and turn, and are filled with dark muddy water. It takes the divers about eight hours to get into the cave, reach the boys, and bring them back out. The anxious families say they have forgiven 25-year-old coach Ekapol Chanthawong, who led the boys on what was supposed to be an innocent adventure in cave exploring more than two weeks ago. Monsoon rains had started falling again, causing water levels inside the cave to rise, squeezing the boys in an ever shrinking space inside the cave, and causing oxygen levels to drop.