A cave complex in Thailand where 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach were trapped
for more than two weeks before they were safely brought out will be turned into a museum to showcase the rescue.
Image: Reuters/Thai Navy Seals
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Two British divers found the 12 boys and their coach in acavern in the flooded Tham Luang cave system in the northern province of Chiang Rai on Monday last week, nine days after they went missing during an excursion. They were all brought safely following a mission fraught with obstacles that ended late on Tuesday. A Thai rescue diver died last Friday, highlighting the dangers.
"This area will become a living museum, to show how the operation unfolded," the head of rescue mission, Narongsak Osottanakorn, told a news conference. "An interactive data base will be set up" he said. "It will become another major attraction for Thailand."
The rescued boys lost weight but generally well after cave ordealImage: picture-alliance/AP/Thailand Government Spokesman Bureau
Thai officials say the fate of the boys and the multinational rescue has put the cave firmly on the map and plans are in place to develop it into a tourist destination. But Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday extra precautions would have be implemented both inside and outside the cave to safeguard tourists.
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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A guide book describes the relatively unexplored Tham Luangcave as having an "impressive entrance chamber" leading to a marked path and then a series of chambers and boulders.
Villagers say it is known to be prone to flooding and many have urged authorities to post clearer warnings.
Chongklai Worapongsathorn, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said the cave would be closed from Thursday but did not say for how long. He said plans were in place to "revive" an adjacent national park where hundreds of rescue workers and military personnel set up camp during the search and rescue.
Entrance of the Tham Luang cave complex in the northern province of Chiang RaiImage: Reuters
Superstitious Thais have been gripped by a legend about the cave - the full name of which is Tham Luang Nang Non or "cave of the reclining lady". Legend has it that a beautiful princess ran away to the cave with her commoner lover. Her father sent soldiers to kill the lover, prompting the princess to commit suicide. Surrounding mountains took on the shape of her body.
