12 boys lost in flooded Thai cave

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1. Do we know how far is the swim(dive) through?
2. What is the chance for the whole cave to be completely filled with water? The coming rainy season could be the worst in history!!!! I read that seven Thai Navy Seals are keeping them company. So there are 20 human lives inside that section and plenty more around the area(cave). Sudden flooding could put plenty of lives at risk.
3. What ever evacuation option is taken, I hope the parents and even the boys are being consulted.

Good luck to everyone involved.
 
What is the likely source of air flowing into the place they are stuck, are there fissures in the rocks? There must be airflows because I can't imagine 13 people lasting in an air pocket or 10 days.

According to the elevation drawing, below, there is enough air circulation from the tunnel above the Pattaya Beach chamber. From the same drawing, it shows also where they are planning to drill tunnel. They also mention about the survivors getting fresh water percolating down through the rock from the chamber ceiling.

There also a drainage in that chamber (to the left of the drawing) that keeps the chamber from flooding.

image.jpeg


The source of the elevation drawing: Chiang Mai CityNews - LIVE Updates: Teenager Football Team Trapped in Thai Cave
 
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...Still can't believe the soccer coach would take the whole team to such a place!? What on earth was he thinking!?

Apparently this was not his first rodeo. He took the team to the same cave last year. They are just out of luck this year, going there very close to the beginning of raining season.
 
1. Do we know how far is the swim(dive) through?
2. What is the chance for the whole cave to be completely filled with water? The coming rainy season could be the worst in history!!!! I read that seven Thai Navy Seals are keeping them company. So there are 20 human lives inside that section and plenty more around the area(cave). Sudden flooding could put plenty of lives at risk.
3. What ever evacuation option is taken, I hope the parents and even the boys are being consulted.

Good luck to everyone involved.

There is a natural drain tunnel out of the Pattaya Beach chamber, as shown in the elevation drawing that I posted above. That drain would keep the beach from flooding.
 
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Excuse my ignorance ahain, but how are there strong currents in a sump?

Most of the cave systems are porous. So, the strong current in the sump could be due to the inflow from the rain above and the outflow through the porous rock below, too small for a diver to fit in, so to speak.
 
Was having a random thought; if no other way out, and if flooding was a risk, and if after 'training' the dive would be excessively risky for some of them, then how about anaesthetising? (using FFM of course).
 
Anesthesia?? Not very practical and has its own high risks.
 
\ If you look at pics of all the Thai divers they are not in cave gear setup, but recreational gear setup. I don’t know how Thai Navy divers get trained but I’m drawing my own conclusions about their cave diving abilities/knowledge. I hope the Navy listens to the cave divers.

Agreed, 110%!
 
............ - I would guess the route is now entirely lit and roped.

You can 'light' zero vis but it doesn't make it one bit clearer, as a matter of fact it can even make it more disorienting in some silted up situations.

It's been a while but I remember neon coloured fins are very nice for following in a conga line through a viz = zero passage

Then, with all due respects, if you could see someones fins you were in bad / very bad vis, not zero vis as no doubt this milk coffee coloured water in the Thai cave would be. Real zero vis!

Whatever, it's going to be one hell of a rescue (hopefully), but there is a long way to go yet.

Now, not referring directly to the poster I have quoted above, but it is obvious that some folks posting here are not cave trained, nor would I expect everyone to be, but for those that are not, believe me, real zero vis - as is the case here - in a tight passage is truly a challenge to deal with at the best of times for those cave diver trained, let alone in a rescue 'pressure' situation like this. Lets all hope for a 100% positive outcome though, but as said above, seems a long way out for those boys at present.
 
It'll be risky however they decide to bring them out. Waiting on the other hand has it's own set of problems. The dive gear the rescuers are using seems to be working so I won't comment.
 

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