An operation to evacuate Thailand's trapped boys has started, according to officials. A lack of heavy rainfall has helped keep the water level at bay, but with heavy rain in the forecast time is running out.
"Today is the D-day," rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said. "The boys are ready to face any challenges."
The operation will take two to three days to complete, according to officials. Reporters camped out near the cave speculated earlier that the operation would begin shortly after officials cleared the cave entrance on Sunday morning to allow divers and medics to enter the complex.
"Everyone who is not involved with the operations has to get out of the area immediately," police announced via loudspeaker. "From the situation assessment, we need to use the area to help victims."
'Perfect' rescue conditions
Before the announcement, Osottanakorn had said the situation was ideal for initiating the mission. "Now and in the next three or four days, the conditions are perfect in terms of the water, the weather and the boys' health," he said.
Divers found the group nearly 10 days later, and rescuers have since been draining the cave in preparation for a rescue that would see the boys and their coach dive through dangerous submerged passageways to the cave entrance.
The boys and their coach were trapped after flooding cut them off from the cave entrance
'We are at war with water'
A lack of heavy rainfall has helped keep the water level at bay, Osatanakorn said, but downpours expected in the next several days could undo much of their work and jeopardize the mission.
"The plan that I've held on to from the beginning is that we have to bring the kids out and the determining factor of this plan is to have as little water as possible," he said.
A brief torrential downpour on Saturday evening underscored the dangers of waiting too long. "We are at war with water and time from the first day up to today," he said.
Oxygen concerns
The governor said falling oxygen levels and increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the cave have also begun to worry officials.
"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.
Rescuers have so far failed to place a pipe into the cave to supply fresh air to the group. Divers have been able to bring them oxygen tanks, as well as food supplies and medicine.
Why it was so difficult to extricate Thai cave boys
After a daring rescue mission, Thai divers and international volunteers rescued 12 young soccer players and their coach from a flooded cave. The group was stranded in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex for 18 days.
Image: picture-alliance/Newscom
Happy ending after harrowing ordeal
After deliberating over how best to rescue the boys and their coach - considering even whether to teach them how to dive, or wait for the monsoon waters to recede months later - rescue workers finally settled on pumping out as much water as possible, sedating those trapped and strapping them to a diver who shepherded them to safety.
Image: Reuters/Thai Navy Seals
Found alive after nine days
Rescue divers initially found the 12 young soccer players and their coach alive on July 3 after they went missing in a Thai cave 10 days earlier. Fighting against time, rain and low oxygen levels, rescuers managed to free the first four boys successfully on July 8. The rescuers faced a complicated and dangerous diving mission to free the rest of the team and their coach.
Image: picture-alliance/Newscom
Glimpse of joy
Families of the teenage soccer players expressed their joy over the discovery of the boys nine days after they went missing. Outside the cave, the mother of one of the boys said she was "glad" for a glimpse of her son. "He's thinner," she said, as she ran her finger over the image of her son on a television screen.
Image: Thai Navy Seal via AP
Massive rescue efforts
Thai rescuers were assisted by an international team comprising experts from China, Australia, the USA and Britain. A video from the Thai Navy SEAL Facebook page showed the group several kilometers inside the 10-kilometer (6-mile) cave network on a small wedge of dry ground. The boys moved 400 meters further in as the ledge had become covered by water.
Trapped by flooding
The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach entered the cave to celebrate one of the player's birthday. They became trapped in the cave, a local tourist spot where similar incidents have taken place in the past, when sudden rainfall flooded its entry on June 23. It was later reported that some of the boys could not swim, further complicating the rescue.
Image: picture-alliance/Xinhua
A difficult mission
The rescue mission proved difficult for divers whose efforts were continually hampered by rising water that filled sections of the cave, often forcing them to stop. Getting trained divers into the cave was easier than getting untrained kids out.
Image: Reuters/S. Zeya Tun
Boys' safety paramount
The entire nation was glued to the media coverage of the rescue mission, and Thai authorities insisted they will not compromise on the safety of the trapped group. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (above, at right) thanked international experts who helped find the boys.
Image: picture alliance/Xinhua News Agency
First boys rescued
The first four boys were rescued by a team of 13 foreign diving experts and Thai Navy SEALS, who helped them navigate the flooded cave tunnels. The head of the rescue operation said they were the healthiest in the group. The rest of the boys and their coach would be rescued from the cave over the next two days.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Suwanrumpha
Safe and sound
Doctors who treated the boys after their rescue reported that while they had lost weight, the otherwise appeared to be in good health. The dozens of divers and hundreds of other rescue workers have been celebrated around the world as heroes, especially 38-year-old former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan, who died after bringing the group supplies of air on July 5.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/Thailand Government Spokesman Bureau
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Elon Musk offers help
Officials have also been exploring an alternative rescue plan involving extraction through holes bored into the side of the hill above the cave.
More than 100 exploratory holes have been bored, but officials have said they were still discussing the best drilling angles to reach the chamber were the group is stranded.
US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk told followers on Twitter that he had sent engineers from his Boring Company to Thailand to try and help the rescue effort.
Navy SEALs publish boys' notes
Thai Navy SEAL divers on Saturday published handwritten notes by the boys reassuring their families that they were safe.
"I'm happy being here inside, the navy SEALS have taken good care. Love you all," wrote Mick.
"I love you, Dad, Mum and my sister," wrote Pheerapat. "You don't need to be worried about me."
