Twelve missing teenagers and their football coach are feared to be trapped in a Thai cave after they didn’t return from practice on Saturday. Investigators believe the group crawled into the Tham Luang Nang Non cave, in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province two days ago.
Rescuers are planning a second attempt to try to get through a small, flooded passage after divers were unable to reach deep inside the chamber first time.
Kamolchai Kotcha, a park official, said the passage to the chamber is extremely small, “flooded and covered with sand and mud.”
He told CNN: “We have been working almost 24 hours but there are many limitations, the caves are pitch dark and very low level of oxygen in some areas, and scattering rains just made our task more difficult.”
The large chamber is about 2.5 miles from the entrance of the cave that’s thought is be between three and five miles long.
The boys are aged between 11 and 15, from Chiang Rai, and are believed to have entered the cave with their coach late Saturday afternoon.
A mother reported her son never returned from football practice that day, sparking a huge search operation.
A park officer found 11 bikes left by the entrance to the cave with backpacks, football shoes and other sports equipment left in their baskets, according to the Bangkok Post.
Witnesses are said to have spotted the group crawling inside the cave, which can flood severely during Thailand’s rainy season, which runs from June to October.
