(UTV|COLOMBO) – Rising water levels have interrupted efforts to find 12 teenagers and their Football Coach trapped in a cave in northern Thailand, the BBC reported.
Pumping was halted and with the entrance flooded, Thai Navy Divers had to stop their search.
The boys aged 11 to 16 and their 25-year old Coach entered the cave on Saturday and there has been no contact with them since.
The rescue operation is now focusing on finding another way into the cave.
Thai Authorities said they planned to drill a narrow shaft into the mountain to create an alternative entry point.
It is not known, however, where in the cave the group are trapped nor even whether they are still alive.
Messages the children sent before setting off to explore the cave on Saturday suggest they had taken torches and some food.
According to the Caving Experts, as long as they are in a chamber above flood levels, they have a chance of survival.
The biggest dangers for the children would be hypothermia or lack of oxygen.
Tham Luang is Thailand’s fourth longest cave and known to be prone to flooding during the rainy season.
The teenagers and coach are believed to have been cut off from the entrance by rising floodwaters.
Rescue teams and volunteers have over the past days frantically tried to find a way into the cave, scouring the surrounding area for holes, but have failed to get through.
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