Thai Rescuers Save Four More Trapped Boys from Cave, Bringing Total of Those Saved to Eight

Originally, there were 12 boys trapped, plus their coach. Now eight boys have been gotten out of the cave, and just four more boys and their coach remain.

The boys, ages 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach became stranded when they went exploring inside after a practice game. Monsoon flooding blocked off their escape and prevented rescuers from finding them for almost 10 days.

Two divers were assigned to each child to help them navigate the dangerous, narrow passageways.

On Friday, the death of a former Thai navy SEAL underscored the risks. The diver, the first fatality of the rescue effort, was working in a volunteer capacity and died on a mission to place oxygen canisters along the route.

I guess the cave passages are too narrow to permit a kid to wear a tank on his back, and he must take air from the cannisters placed on the ground along the route?

I was wondering about this -- just how deep is this cave, anyway, to present such a formidable challenge to escape? Well, it's long:

The canisters are placed strategically thoughout the escape route, which is about two-and-a-half miles long.

Here's a handy InfoGraphic:

And on the former Thai SEAL who died while pre-positioning those oxygen tanks:

By the way: Trump tweeted about this. Which of course made the media decide it was against saving the boys.

No, not really. But they did begin questioning whether the US, which always sends assistance and expertise in any deadly situation, really was doing what it always does as a matter of routine.

The media began crying #FakeNews and questioning whether the US is really helping.

Turns out: We are.

Will The Hill retract its pissy and cowardly pseudo-denial of Trump's tweet?

That last bit via Stephen Green at PJ Media.

posted by Ace of Spades at 07:06 PM

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