(UTV|COLOMBO) – Thai rescuers say 12 boys trapped deep inside a cave complex may be able to walk out – provided their path can be drained before monsoon showers predicted for the weekend.
A Military operation in the Tham Luang Nan Nong cave complex is employing hundreds of industrial pumps to drain the water along the 4Km path from the entrance to the area where the children and their Football Coach have been sheltering for 12-days.
The focus of Thursday’s (04) operations is a third major basin along the route where water still reaches to the ceiling. The boys, who cannot swim, are being trained in how to dive using scuba equipment. But forcing them to exit through the water is fraught with risk.
Clearing the third basin would leave another 2.5Km to reach the boys, whose ages range from 11 to 16. It is unclear how long this remaining area would take to drain, but monsoon rains are predicted for Saturday (07) and would quickly refill the cave complex, potentially cutting the boys off for months.
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