Tham Luang Cave Rescue: Thirteen Survive Nine Days

Thirteen survive nine days without food

On June 23, 2018, the Wild Boars soccer team walked into Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand after practice.

Monsoon rains, the heavy seasonal storms, flooded the cave.

The boys and their coach were stuck on a muddy ledge about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) from the entrance.

The food ran out. So did the light.

They lasted nine days by sipping water that had condensed on the walls.

On July 2, British cave diver John Volanthen and Rick Stanton pushed through the narrow passages and found them alive.

How many of you?

"Thirteen," one of the boys answered.

"Brilliant," Volanthen said.

The coach chose the leaving order and wrote it down in numbers.

Divers from several countries then sedated them, putting them to sleep with drugs, and took them through the flooded tunnels. They carried them, pulled them, and in places swam with them.

Up to 10,000 people joined the operation.

On July 6, a former combat swimmer from the Royal Thai Navy special forces suffocated on the way back after delivering air tanks to the group.

The rescuers later admitted they did not understand why the plan had worked.

But it had.

Thirteen people came out alive.
One man brought the air and did not return.

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