Rescue of remaining boys trapped in Thai cave could take 4 days

An ambulance leaves the Tham Luang cave area where divers rescued 4 of 12 boys and their football team coach trapped in a flooded cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province on July 8, 2018. AFP PHOTO

MAE SAI, Thailand – Officials say it could take up to four days to complete the rescue of eight boys and their soccer coach from inside a northern Thailand cave.

Authorities temporarily stopped their efforts Monday to replenish air tanks along the cave’s treacherous exit route.

Expert divers on Sunday managed to get four of the 12 boys to safety. They were quickly transported to a hospital in the town of Chiang Rai, the provincial capital.

The names of the rescued boys were not released.

Rescuers have been navigating a dangerous and complicated plan to get the children out under the threat of heavy rain and rising water underground.

The entire group had been trapped for more than two weeks.

Meanwhile, the California tunnel company run by Elon Musk is continuing to maintain a presence at the Thai cave where several boys and their soccer coach are awaiting rescue.

A spokesman for Boring Co. said Sunday that the company has four engineers who are “offering support in any way the government deems useful.”

Musk tweeted early Saturday that he was working with a team from his Space X rocket company to build a “tiny kid-size submarine” to transport the children.

But Saturday night, he tweeted that the cave was now closed for the rescue by divers.

“Will continue testing in LA in case needed later or somewhere else in the future,” he wrote.

Musk says the sub would be light enough to be carried by two divers and small enough to get through narrow cave gaps. /cbb