Multi-national efforts double at the Thai cave rescue

Multi-national efforts double at the Thai cave rescue
By Louise Miner with Reuters
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More rain is forecast as the 12 boys and coach remain in the cavern.

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As the rescue effort of the boys trapped in a cave in Thailand is under pressure with more rain forecast, authorities are doubling their efforts to reduce water levels in the cavern.

There are many different experts on hand to help out.

US Air Force Public Affairs Officer Capt. Jessica Tait says, "This was a Thai-led multinational effort. We're here since the 28th of June, and since we've hit the ground we've been working with our Thai partners. It truly is amazing when you see all the people that are here supporting this effort - here are, yes, US, but there are also Australian divers, Chinese divers, the British team that found the boys, all here and supporting this. The challenges ahead - those next days it's the planning, it's trying to figure out which course of action to take to be able to get these boys and the coach out quickly but the paramount thing is, safely"

So who are the two British divers who first found the boys.

Rick Stanton MBE, is a firefighter and hails from Coventry and John Volanthen is an IT consultant from Bristol.

They have more than 35 years’ experience of extreme cave dives and rescues and have worked together several times.

Their expert experience is needed with such a rescue.

Technical cave diver Edd Sorenson says, "There are a lot of factors coming into play - how far, how long a distance do they (rescuers) need to go in a completely submerged cave to get them (boys) out, if it's a short distance, it's possible to get them out in scuba (gear), but that becomes very dangerous very risky for an untrained personnel in a zero-visibility high flow system like that. So, taking them other medical supplies, food, water, things to keep them warm and waiting it out (for the end of floods) obviously is the safest and the most possible. Getting them out in scuba with no training becomes very risky, very dangerous".

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