HERO’S VOW
Heartbreaking video shows Thai cave diver vowing to ‘bring the boys home’ days before his death delivering air to trapped boys
HEARTBREAKING video emerged today showing a hero Thai cave diver vowing to “bring the kids home” days before his death delivering air to the trapped boys.
Ex-Navy Seal Saman Kunan suffocated while trying to help 12 schoolboys trapped in a flooded cave system in northern Thailand.
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The hero's coffin arrives at the airport following his tragic death in the cave in northern ThailandAnd footage filmed days ago shows the hero on his way to the scene, vowing: “See you tonight at Tham Luang. We will bring the kids home.”
Saman's body is being brought back to his family today, and was given a hero's send-off at Mae Fah Luang Airport with full military honours.
The brave 38-year-old's remains will be returned to his hometown in Roi Et for a royal-sponsored funeral, the king of Thailand announced.
Military officers were pictured transporting his coffin which was draped in the flag of the South East Asian country.
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He died from a lack of oxygen as he attempted to swim back through the underground labyrinth to safety after taking oxygen tanks to the lads - who may have to make their escape in the next 24 hours because of their dwindling air supply.
Experts say a devastating monsoon which could leave them stranded for four months is fast moving in — and rescuers warn "there is a limited amount of time".
Aged between 11 and 16, the brave lads and their football coach, 26, have been inside the flooded Tham Luang network since June 23, after getting stranded during a reported initiation ritual.
Heroic Saman lost consciousness on his way out of the Tham Luang cave and could not be revived by his colleagues.
He had left the Navy last year, but returned just to help the rescue effort.
What we know so far:
- The football team made up of 12 boys aged between 11 and 16 and their coach ran into trouble on 23 June
- They were visiting the cave network in Chiang Rai when monsoon rains trapped them deep inside
- They were found safe on Monday night by British divers, who discovered them huddled together on a ledge about 1.2miles inside the network
- They are all in reasonable health - one diver said they were "very weak, but alive"
- The military is sending in provisions to last them up to four months while they assess rescue options
- The children are being taught how to dive and have been given masks to practice breathing
- A Thai navy seal has died during the rescue mission from a lack of oxygen
- A devastating monsoon which could flood the cave and leave them stranded for four months is closing in
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Admiral Apakorn Yuukongkaew, commander of the SEALS unit, told reporters on today: "The conditions in the cave are tough."
Explaining how the hero diver lost his life, he said: "Once he placed the oxygen tanks he became unconscious on his way back.
"His buddy tried to administer first aid, when there was no response he tried to move him.
"We won't let his life be in vain. We will carry on."
Following Saman’s death, authorities have admitted for the first time that the stricken kids cannot wait in the cave until the rainy season passes in October.
Officials said the window of opportunity to free the group is limited.
The cave system in northern Thailand is losing oxygen as rescuers continue to try and deliver air supplies to the kids.
A ventilation pipe, which is also being coached through, must reach the children today.
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Navy SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookongkaew said there is a “limited amount of time” left and little choice but to attempt the dangerous evacuation, reports .
The level of oxygen in the cave where the boys are trapped has dropped to 15 per cent from the normal level of around 21 per cent.
“We can no longer wait for all conditions (to be ready) because the circumstance is pressuring us,” Mr Yookongkaew said.
“At first we thought that we could sustain the kids’ lives for a long time where they are now, but now, many things have changed. We have a limited amount of time.”
Chiang Rai deputy governor Passakorn Boonyaluck said: “It was sad news, a former SEAL who volunteered to help died last night about 2am.
“His job was to deliver oxygen (in the cave). He did not have enough on his way back.”
Chiang Rai provincial Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn said the level of oxygen in the cave had dropped because of the presence of hundreds of rescue workers.
Authorities are now frantically drilling holes in the forest above the cave in a desperate bid to increase the air supply to the stranded group.
Around 30 oxygen tanks have also been deployed in the area which is swarming with emergency workers and reporters.
The boys have been taught how to swim and scuba dive as they prepare to take on the “unbelievably dangerous” route of paddling 2.5 miles through the tunnel's murky waters – a perilous journey which would take four hours.
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Thai boys trapped in cave seen smiling and saying they're in good health in new footage
They will be chaperoned through the pitch black cave network, filled with water likened to “black coffee”, by Brit diving experts as torrential monsoon rain showers are expected in the next day.
SEAL commander Yookongkaew warned: "At first we thought that we could sustain the kids' lives for a long time where they are now, but now, many things have changed.
"We have a limited amount of time."
Described as "very weak, but alive" by a British team of rescuers, the schoolkids have been given plenty of protein snacks and energy gels in bid to build up their strength ahead of their escape.
Meanwhile, heart-warming footage shows the schoolboys smiling while confirming they are in good health.
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In the clip, the children, many of whom are wrapped in foil warming blankets, introduce themselves to the camera while putting their palms together and giving a traditional "wai" greeting.
The 12 boys and their coach are seen sitting with Thai Navy SEALs in the dark cave with their visibly skinny faces illuminated by the beam of a flashlight.
The video, which lasts around a minute, was recorded sometime on Tuesday.
Osatanakorn, who is in charge of the rescue operation, said the children and their coach have been practising with masks but have not yet attempted any dives.
Yesterday, he insisted the boys and their coach would be rescued in stages – depending on their health.
Osatanakorn said: “All 13 may not come out at the same time. If the condition is right and if that person is ready 100 per cent, he can come out.”
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Divers in Thailand cling to hope of findinglost lost in Tham Luang caves
The governor also revealed that a new cave, which is believed to be connected to the complex where the boys are, has been discovered.
He said two main routes of water flowing into the cave have been identified and blocked, reported.
Authorities are still pumping water out of the tunnel system while also scouring the mountainside for other ways into the cave.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said evacuating the lads "must speed up" as soon as possible - before more rain falls and exacerbates the flooding.
He said the boys would be probably brought out via the same complicated route through which their rescuers entered.
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But he admitted if something went awry, some of the kids could die.
Paojinda said: "If something happens midway, it could be life-threatening."
“Diving is not easy. For people who have never done it, it will be difficult, unlike diving in a swimming pool, because the cave's features have small channels.”
Having them dug out of the cave is also being considered but it's feared if this is botched it could cause the cavern where the team has taken refuge to cave in.
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It emerged yesterday the boys visited the cave to attempt a local initiation rite in which they had to scrawl their names on a wall at the end of the tunnel.
Footage emerged of two Brit rescue divers finding the terrified boys cowering in a darkened chamber inside the caves.
The group appeared exhausted, rake thin and sensitive to the light, with some speaking faltering English to try to communicate with their saviours.
British rescuers were the first to reach the schoolboy footballers after struggling through narrow passages and murky waters of the Tham Luang cave network in Chiang Rai.
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Ben Raymenants, who was 1,300ft behind the British divers when they were found, told Sky News: "They had no food. They left their backpacks and their shoes before wading in there, trying to go the end of the tunnel like an initiation for local young boys to go to the end of the tunnel and write your name on the wall and then make it back.
"A flash flood because of sudden heavy rain locked them in, with no shoes and no food. They had just one flash light which obviously ran out."
Thai authorities have refused to rule out the possibility of charging the 25-year-old coach, Ekapol “Aek” Chanthawong, who took the boys into the cave.
Family members of those trapped say the team often went on adventuring trips together.
HERO BRITS WHO FOUND BOYS
Two British divers have "spearheaded" the discovery of the 12 boys and their football coach and were the first to reach the group.
Richard Stanton and John Volanthen, along with a third Briton, Robert Harper, joined the "huge" search operation after the British Cave Rescue Council (BCRC) was contacted by Thai authorities seeking expert help.
Stanton, in his 50s, is a fireman from Coventry who helped to rescue Britons trapped in a cave in Mexico in 2004, according to reports.
He is regarded as one of the world's leading cave rescue experts, and was made an MBE at the end of 2012.
Divernet described him as "arguably the main face of British cave diving" and he has told the publication he regards diving as "my hobby" and undertakes it completely voluntarily.
Mr Volanthen, an IT consultant in his 40s, who is based in Bristol, reportedly set a world record for the longest dive from the surface of water in a team with Mr Stanton in 2011.
He said in an interview with the Sunday Times magazine in 2013 that caving requires a cool head and that "panic and adrenaline are great in certain situations but not in cave-diving".
WHAT ARE THE DANGERS?
None of the boys can swim, while diving requires extreme mental fortitude, and panicking when swimming - often in pitch black conditions - is deadly.
As they have all been in the dark for two weeks, the team must first all eat to regain strength and would wear sunglasses to protect their eyes as they exit the cave.
Bill Whitehouse, from the British Cave Rescue Council which is helping with the rescue, said the diving option was "certainly not easy".
He explained: "There's space to make your way through, but it is 50/50 underwater over 1.5km. That's still a lot of diving and it's possible it will need a lot of equipment."
HOW WOULD THE RESCUE WORK?
The evacuation would see each boy taught to use dive equipment then escorted by pairs of divers - like a relay - through the cave network.
Local media report some sections of the cave are so narrow the youngsters would have to travel through them alone - all while avoiding any panic.
Other sections of floodwaters are so muddy that their rescuers reported being unable to see and had to feel their way through.
Experts say the kids would have to been taken out one-by-one - because if one ran into difficulty this would cause a blockage and risk the lives of the kids behind him.
Thai cave rescue – when did the children go missing, how many boys were trapped inside the Tham Luang Nang Non caves and are they safe?
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