Accessibility links

Breaking News

New Video Offers Glimpse of Trapped Thai Soccer Players


Boys from the under-16 soccer team trapped inside Tham Luang cave covered in hypothermia blankets react to the camera in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in this still image taken from a July 3, 2018 video by Thai Navy Seal.
Boys from the under-16 soccer team trapped inside Tham Luang cave covered in hypothermia blankets react to the camera in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in this still image taken from a July 3, 2018 video by Thai Navy Seal.

Thai Navy divers released new video Wednesday of the youth soccer team who have been trapped in a flooded cave complex for nearly two weeks, as rescue crews try to come up with a way to bring them out safely.

The video shows the boys wrapped in foil blankets they received when divers reached them earlier this week. The youngsters looked into the camera, pressing their palms together in a traditional Thai greeting, introducing themselves and thus assuring the world they are safe.

Watch the video posted on Thai NavySEAL Facebook page:

The 12 boys -- ages 11 to 16 -- and their 25-year-old coach were found Monday huddled on a ledge deep in the Tham Luang caves in northern Chaing Rai province.

Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said the team might have to be taught diving skills in order to get them out, but that might prove extra difficult since some of the boys cannot swim.

"The evacuation must speed up," Anupong told the Bangkok Post. "Diving gear will be used. If the water rises, the task will be difficult. We must bring the kids out before then."

Rescue personnel work at the Tham Luang cave complex, as members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive according to local media, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 4, 2018.
Rescue personnel work at the Tham Luang cave complex, as members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive according to local media, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 4, 2018.

But Chaing Rai Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn told reporters Wednesday officials will not not take action until they are "100 certain" conditions are safe enough to evacuate the team.

Evacuation crews are continuing to try to pump water out of the cave, but more rains have been forecast later this week.

Rescuer carry water pipe makes their way up at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped inside when heavy rains flooded the cave, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand, July 4, 2018.
Rescuer carry water pipe makes their way up at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped inside when heavy rains flooded the cave, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand, July 4, 2018.

The ordeal has left the 12 boys and their coach emaciated and weak. Divers have supplied them with edible high-energy gels and medicine. A few of the divers, including medics, are staying with the group in the cave.

​The team had been missing since June 23, when they did not return to their homes from practice.

WATCH: Cave rescue plan

Rescuers Find Teens Trapped in Cave, Getting Them Out May Take Time
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:01:54 0:00

The only trace of them had been bicycles and soccer cleats found outside the entrance of the complex, and handprints along the cave walls. Heavy flooding brought on by days of heavy rains have hampered the divers' efforts to reach the team.

Experts from the United States, Australia, China and Britain have assisted in the search-and-rescue efforts.

The Tham Luang complex is prone to severe flooding during Thailand's rainy season, which lasts from June to October.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG