Thai police drop packages into cave to find lost boys

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As a search in northern Thailand for 12 boys and their soccer coach who are missing inside a flooded cave entered a sixth day on Friday, police began dropping survival packages through a shaft drilled in the mountainside, not knowing if anyone was there.

The boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year old assistant coach went missing on Saturday after they decided to explore the 10-kilometer (6 mile) long Tham Luang cave complex in Chiang Rai province, despite a sign warning visitors that the maze of passages and chambers was prone to flooding.

Bicycles and soccer shoes belonging to the boys were found near the entrance, and rescue workers think handprints inside the cave could have been left by the group. But the search has so far yielded no other trace.

Soldiers walk with a dog near the Tham Luang cave complex, as a search for members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach continues, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, on June 29, 2018. /VCG Photo

International rescue teams, including one sent by the United States Pacific Command (PACOM), are assisting the Thai army, navy and police in a search operation that has been hampered by heavy rain.

Police have been scouring the ground above in search of other ways into the cave as divers tried to find their way through the flooded passages.

20 packages filled with water, food, medicine, flashlights and a note addressed to the missing team were dropped down a fissure in the cave on Friday, police said.

Unsure of the boys' location, they just hoped the boxes would reach them.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha (L) speaks to family members of missing children and their coach camping out at Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai province, June 29, 2018 during rescue operation in Tham Luang cave. /VCG Photo

"If the children find this box, we want them to float the box out of the cave," said Colonel Kraiboon Sotsong, commander of the police's strategic office.

"The note says: ‘If received, then reply and show on the map where you are. Everybody will quickly help."

The race to find the boys has gripped the Southeast Asian nation. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited the site on Friday to urge on the rescuers and assure relatives keeping vigil that every effort would be made.

"Whatever can be done, do it, the government will back it," said Prayuth. "I've come to give everyone encouragement."

Source(s): Reuters