Most of the boys' parents are waiting in a makeshift camp near the Tham Luang Nang Non caves, and have not left the area since Saturday, when they learned that their children were missing.
"I feel I have just lost my heart because I just found his bag, mobile phone and his shoes. But all I can do is just wait," said Sudsakorn Sudtham, 35, whose son, Prajak, is 14 years old.
The group, all belonging to the same soccer team from the nearby city of Chiang Rai, have been missing since 1 p.m. local time Saturday, when a park officer spotted something amiss -- bicycles parked idly by the entrance to the cave, despite it being off-limits.
They are believed to have crawled into the large series of caves through a narrow, 15-meter long channel.
Another anxious parent, Pinyo Bhodhi said that he became worried when his 15-year-old son, Pipat, hadn't returned home on Saturday evening -- the day before his birthday.
The 37-year-old told CNN that he'd arranged a party and a cake for Pipat, a keen footballer who "trains every day" and has dreams of playing for the Thai national team, to come home to on Saturday night.
When he failed to return, Bhodhi started calling around his son's friends, teammates and coaches.
"It was already 7 (or) 8 p.m. and he hadn't returned home, (so) I started to look for him."
When he learned of their disappearance at the caves he rushed to the scene near the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai, and has been waiting here since Saturday night. He says he discovered Pipat's bike outside the cave.
"When I saw his bike parked inside parked at the cave, my tears were just dropping. I was desperate to find my son.
"We need a miracle, I want him back."
He was looking forward to seeing his son blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, but now "the cake remains at home."
Rescue complicated by heavy rains
The families can only sit and wait as rescuers battle heavy rains to search the flooded system of caves where the group are thought to be trapped.
Emergency services are attempting to pump water out of the cave complex, after heavy rains flooded the caves and the passages that link them.
The rains have caused the operation to be a struggle, Kamolchai Kotcha, an official with Thailand's national parks authority, told CNN.
"We have drawing out water from the cave, and we're (currently) looking for more water pumps" and long cables with which to power the pumps, he said.
The team of Thai Royal Navy SEAL divers, who reentered the cave complex early Tuesday morning, have yet to find any trace of the children or their coach, Kotcha told CNN by phone.
There are around 40 chambers inside the Tham Luang cave, "both small and big ones," Kotcha said.
Rescuers believe the missing boys are still in the main chamber of the cave.
Thai Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda said that the divers could only work intermittently due to the restrictions of their equipment, so the rescue team was trying to reduce the water level to prevent it from "reaching the ceiling of the passage" so that there was an air pocket for the rescuers to use.
"The water is muddy, it has also still blocked the passage (into the chamber). The SEALs have switched from using oxygen tank to a closed-circuit system," which allows them to dive up to three hours at a time.
"We are arranging more water pumps and electricity cable to drain water. Hopefully we can create some space (at the passage) for them."
Kotcha said that the team is waiting for updates from the SEAL team who were still trying to get through the now-flooded channel.
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Families await news of teenage soccer team trapped in Thai cave"
Post a Comment