Divers with extra supplies advance in Thai cave passageway

Rescuers make their way down at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand, Sunday, July 1, 2018. The frantic effort to locate them in the cave for a week picked up pace as a break in the rain eased flooding in the system of caverns and more experts from around the world joined the anxious rescue mission. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

MAE SAI, Thailand — Rescue divers were advancing in the main passageway inside the flooded cave in northern Thailand where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been missing more than a week.

Thai navy SEALs said in a Facebook post early Monday that divers since Sunday night had reached a bend where the kilometer-long passage splits in two directions.

The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach entered Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province on June 23. Heavy rains that flooded key passages are believed to have trapped the soccer players, and have thwarted their rescue.

The divers, supplied with rope and extra oxygen, have been aiming for a sandy chamber on higher ground in the cave, where they hope the 13 were able to stay dry.   /kga