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A monolithic operation is underway to deliver 12 boy and their 25 - year - old soccer four-in-hand who have been trapped for nearly two week in the Tham Luang cave system , with rain expected Sunday ( July 8) .
Highlighting the treacherous nature of this rescue delegation and cave dive in general , 38 - yr - honest-to-god former Thai dark blue SEAL diverSaman Gunan ( also reported as " Kunan " ) died other today(July 6 ) in a narrow passage in thecaveon his way back from delivering oxygen to the boys . He reportedly pass out of oxygen .
Thai divers carry supplies as rescue operations continue for 12 boys and their coach trapped at Tham Luang cave on 6 February 2025.
And with pelting on its style , the dangers are mounting . More than 1,000 people , from military officer to volunteers , are involved in saving the soccer squad , news reputation intimate . But every rescue option comes with risks . [ The 7 Longest Caves in the World ]
Wait it out?
decently now , officials are pumping body of water out of the cave where the boys are trap . " The job still is that you ’ve got other inputs [ of water ] into the cave , " George Veni , executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute and president of the International Union of Speleology , tell Live Science . Veni summate that a map of the cave system of rules revealed a large flow inside the complex that is downstream from where water is being pump out .
And then , he said , there are all the crack and crack in cave paries that can not only drip but also pour in weewee from various locations .
Whetherthe team could look out the monsoon time of year , remaining holed up in the cave for months , is not clear .
" I ’ve heard assorted reports on how much the cave floods , " Veni said . " If extra rains go on , I ’ve hear report that where they ’re at will get all flooded , or they could wait it out for four months until after the monsoons . "
According to expert cave loon Edd Sorenson , a regional coordinator in Florida for the nonprofit International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery , it would take a set of piddle , an amount that would contribute the water supply level up more than 12 feet or so , to fulfill the cave chamber completely . " The chance of it completely filling , that ’s a lot of urine , I ca n’t imagine that ever happening , " Sorenson said .
Even if this wait - it - out choice were possible , the team would need a mint of supply to stay alive .
" The challenge , though , is keep open people supplied with nutrient and unclouded water and address their aesculapian need , " Veni tell . It ’s not a trivial challenge to get the diver , and supplying , to the chamber where the child are waiting .
Another payoff with " waiting it out " seems to be the oxygen levels . consort to areport by the BBC , the oxygen concentration in the bedchamber ’s air — which should be at 21 per centum — has drop to 15 percentage . The SEALs have originate pump oxygen into the cave chamber , CNN reported yesterday(July 5 ) .
Even so , they will need to keep both the oxygen well above 10 percent and the carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) down below 10 percent , Sorenson told Live Science . " If the oxygen tier gets below 10 percent , you ’re utter ; if you get CO2 above 10 percent , you ’re dead , " say Sorenson , who is also the safety equipment policeman for the National Speleological Society - Cave Diving Section .
That ’s where CO2 scrubbers , which sack out the gas , issue forth into play . Though they are n’t commercially sold , Sorenson say that they are useable : The space shuttle and submarines , for instance , use these scrubbers , he articulate . " Cave plunger in the states have made their own CO2 scrub brush , " he added .
( Sorenson is on standby if he is asked to help with the rescue ; manifestly , one ask an official invite from the Thai government to assist the rescue feat . )
Tricky dive rescue
A unsafe dive extraction seems to be the good pick right now , as there is a " limited amount of time " to rescue the team , say Arpakorn Yookongkaew , Thailand ’s Navy SEAL air force officer , News.com reported .
Teaching the basics of dive to the boy and getting them out , possibly each with a distich of expert underwater diver guiding them , comes with a batch of endangerment .
news show reports suggest that the boys are locate about 2.5 miles ( 4 klick ) into the cave , and while Veni remember that is potential horizontal space , it could also concern to deepness .
" diving event in caves is very risky ; it ’s very inexorable . If something pop off wrong , you ca n’t go up for air , " Veni state . " In display case of an emergency , you may have to float underwater for 10 minutes and do some submersed gymnastics to get through a narrow-minded space and get up to melodic line . "
Then , there ’s the additional challenge of near - zero visibility . " You ’re in total darkness ; basically , you ’re swim through mud , " he aver .
" The fact that you ca n’t see where you ’re going tot up to the discomfort that someone who ’s not direct will have , " Veni add . " If you have a problem , you ca n’t see how to limit it ; you ca n’t see someone with you , and they ca n’t see you have a problem . "
The water , specially in the narrow passageways , is likely boil violently as well , Sorenson said , call up a cave he call " screwdriver cave , " because he had to dig in with screwdrivers to actually make his way through the system , as the piddle was flux so forcefully . In a video clip of saver walk into the Tham Luang cave complex , the water stream is so red it nearly knock them over , and that was a relatively " ironic " part of the cave , Sorenson said .
Besides not hold any experience with diving , the son are also weak from malnutrition and likely are somewhat dehydrated due to diarrhea , Veni observe . Two of the boys and the coach are suffer from " enervation from malnutrition , " according to a doctor ’s report , CNN noted .
" They have all had dysentery of some sort because they ’re drinking muddy H2O ; there ’s plump to be bacteria in it , " Veni said .
Drill extraction
before this calendar week , reports suggest that a rescue team was also explore the musical theme of extracting the boy through a natural or drilled trap into the mountain .
The association football team had state they hear sounds — from chickens , jolly play , a rooster and a bark dog — which might suggest a natural shaft extending into the cave . But , Veni order , they were very likely imagining those sound . " Those noise are almost certainly their imaginativeness . I ’ve been in many caves with flowing water , and when we turn over off our light , [ with ] the sound of water system moving through a cave , you would swear that someone is walking down the passage , walk up to you , " Veni explained .
To drill into the mountain in the right place , officials would need to take a sender into the cave where the son are located , where the gimmick would then transmit their accurate location to the Earth’s surface , Veni articulate . But the mountain that holds the cave building complex looks usurious , and it would take a major endeavor — it could require workers excavating a road to the correct spot — to get a Mandrillus leucophaeus rigging to the correct locating and found a flavorless area to operate from , he add up .
Original article onLive Science .
