Rescue operation in the Tham Luang Cave

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Preparation of the rescue operation, June 27, 2018

The Tham Luang Cave rescue operation was an operation to rescue twelve members of a football team between the ages of 11 and 16 and their 25-year-old coach from the Tham Luang cave system in Thailand . The group was at a on June 23, 2018 Excursion been trapped in the cave after heavy rains flooded large parts of the cave and the return journey had made impassable.

After the discovery of the missing on July 2nd, the action was concluded on July 10th with the rescue of the last trapped and the withdrawal of the helpers deployed in the cave. More than a thousand people from over ten countries were involved in the rescue operations. A Thai diver was killed in a rescue operation, another died over a year later from an infection that he contracted during the rescue operation.

background

The Doi Nang Non mountain range

The Tham Luang Cave is a cave system in the mountain range of the Doi Nang Non Mountains and is located in the approximately 8 km² forest reserve of the Tham Luang - Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the province of Chiang Rai , approximately 60 km from the provincial capital , on the border with Myanmar . The entrance to the cave is 446 meters above sea level. The cave system was measured over a length of about 10 kilometers, but has other so far unexplored extensions.

On June 23, 2018, twelve boys from the youth soccer team Moo Pah ("wild boars") went on a bike trip to Tham Luang Cave with their coach after soccer training to celebrate the birthday of the oldest member. The group was caught by heavy rains while in the cave; Parts of the way back from the cave were flooded and thus impassable.

procedure

Search for the missing

Several parents reported their children missing to the Thai police after they failed to arrive at home several hours after training. During the search that was subsequently initiated, police officers found items of equipment from the soccer team such as bicycles and soccer shoes in the entrance area of ​​the cave. Backpacks were later found deeper in the cave, so that clues for the search direction were given.

Thai military divers began to search the cave. Due to the persistent rain, the entrance area of ​​the cave was flooded and the search had to be temporarily interrupted. On June 26, the Thai authorities asked officially for support in the British Cave Rescue organization British Cave Rescue Council. The British cave diving specialists Richard Stanton and John Volanthen and the British cave explorer Robert Harper flew to Thailand on the same day and arrived at the cave on the fourth day after the search began. 30 soldiers from the United States Pacific Command also strengthened the search team. Police officers with search dogs combed the mountain range to look for further cave entrances that should provide access to the cave below.

Discovery and preparation for rescue

Water was pumped out to lower the water level in the cave (July 2nd)

The twelve boys and their trainer were discovered on July 2 at 9:38 p.m. local time by Stanton and Volanthen several kilometers from the cave entrance on a ledge above the waterline. The group was about 400 meters behind the cave section called Pattaya Beach . Volanthen and Stanton installed a guide line, which should also make navigation easier for subsequent divers. A video of this initial contact with the missing was later released. Communication with the British divers was done by 14-year-old Adul Sam-on, a stateless member of the Wa minority who was the only member of the group who spoke English.

At the time of the discovery, more than 1000 people were involved in the rescue operation, including soldiers from the Thai Navy Seals , an elite unit of the Thai Navy, as well as helpers and teams from various other countries such as the United Kingdom , China , Myanmar , Laos , Australia , the USA , Russia , Finland , Sweden , Denmark , Ukraine , Israel and Germany .

On July 3, seven divers were able to get to the trapped group in the cave, including a doctor. The prisoners received easily digestible, high-calorie food and were subjected to a health check; minor wounds were also treated.

On July 4th, two other British cave explorers, Jason Mallinson and Chris Jewel, were flown in from Great Britain with 500 kilograms of diving equipment to support the rescue operation. The children were introduced to the use of full face masks and breathing underwater.

On July 5, 38-year-old diver Saman Kunan died of asphyxia while transporting compressed air cylinders into the cave. He was found unconscious by his diving partner on the way back from the cave and could not be resuscitated. Kunan resigned from the Thai Navy Seals naval unit in 2006 and volunteered for the Tham Luang Cave. He was a triathlete and was considered an experienced diver.

On July 7, the Thai Navy Seals published photos of short letters that the trapped children had written to parents and relatives the day before. The letters were brought out of the cave by divers and handed over to the waiting relatives in the camp in front of the cave. On the same day, stronger monsoon rains set in in the region around the cave . It was feared that this could cause the water level in the cave to rise again, after the relatively dry days before it had succeeded in significantly lowering the water level in the cave with the help of pumps. All persons not directly involved in the rescue operation, including media representatives, were asked to leave the area around the Tham Luang Cave on the morning of July 8th.

Difficulty in rescue

According to a diver involved, when they were discovered, the trapped were in the mountain about four kilometers from the cave entrance, with an overburden of 750 meters. The difficulties that arose were u. a .:

  • Climbing routes with up to 100% incline for the boys and their trainers who are weakened after several days.
  • Turbidity of the water due to fine particles washed out.
  • Underwater constrictions in siphons that could only be overcome without a scuba tank on the back, an extreme constriction was given with a cross-section of 70 × 38 cm.
  • The length of the dive routes required up to 30 minutes of underwater time, and dealing with pressure equalization in the middle ear is an additional problem for the inexperienced.
  • Significantly reduced oxygen and increased carbon dioxide content due to the trapped people breathing for days in a nearly closed chamber without air exchange.
  • The elevated refuge with sloping floors made supply difficult.
  • Most of the boys couldn't swim.

Rescue operation

At 10 a.m. on July 8, a group of 13 foreign divers and five Thai marine divers set out to evacuate the trapped. Among the divers was the Australian anesthetist Richard Harris, who had been requested by the British specialists. Ten cave divers went to the trapped or positioned themselves at a key point near a junction about 1500 meters from the entrance. Three other cave diving specialists came into the cave at 2 p.m. Other rescue workers were stationed along the last 850 meter stretch that leads from the rescuers' base camp to the exit. Contrary to the original plan to save the fittest boys first, after an examination of the trapped by the Australian doctor, it was decided to first transport the weaker boys out of the cave.

The evacuation of those trapped took three days due to the necessary preparations; the compressed air cylinders that had been placed along the way had to be refilled or replaced. Four boys were rescued on the first day of the operation, four more on July 9, and the remaining four and the trainer on July 10. Afterwards, the helpers involved in the rescue operation were also able to leave the cave, including the three marine divers of the Thai Navy Seals and a Thai military doctor, who had stayed in the cave with the soccer team for days after the discovery.

To prevent panic, the adolescents were given an anxiolytic as a sedative before they were transported out of the cave . Each boy was given a full face mask and a wetsuit and was transported out of the cave by a rescue diver. Additional divers were positioned along the route to assist. After leaving the cave, the rescued were taken to the hospital in the provincial capital Chiang Rai. There they were initially quarantined to avoid infections. A total of 40 Thai and 50 foreign divers were involved in the rescue operation.

postprocessing

All rescued survived the time in the cave in good health. They initially remained in quarantine in the hospital because tropical caves are considered to be the largest reservoirs of unknown viruses. However, there was no evidence that the boys were seriously ill.

After about a week, the boys were discharged from the hospital on July 18, 2018.

reception

Media coverage

The rescue operation received intensive coverage from the international media, with the fact that people from at least 14 countries were involved in the operation in various functions.

The official head of the campaign was Narongsak Osottanakorn as governor of Chiang Rai province , who, in addition to his internal tasks, also regularly officially informed the numerous press representatives at home and abroad.

Since the rescue operation in 2018 coincided with the debate on how to deal with refugees in the European countries , the German media reported on the broad empathy for the fate of the Thai boys' group on the one hand and indifference or antipathy for those in distress on the Mediterranean drowned refugees on the other hand.

Others

  • On July 6, the world football association FIFA invited the team to the final of the football World Cup on July 15 in Moscow if they were to be rescued soon . Since this was not possible, FIFA wants to invite them to a later event.
  • Entrepreneur Elon Musk brought a newly developed child-size submersible submarine to the cave on July 10, but it was not used. Critics accused him of just wanting to do PR .
  • In 2019, The Cave was a film adaptation of the events.
  • In February 2020 the documentary 13 Lost: The untold Story of the Thai Cave Rescue was published, which tells the story from the perspective of other participants and critically deals with the official version of the British divers.

Web links

Commons : Rescue operation in the Tham Luang cave  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Extensive documentation with numerous graphics at Reuters Graphics (English).
  • Shannon Gormley: Into the Dark. Macleans, January 25, 2019 - Report on the rescue with portraits of the rescuers.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Afp: Rescue of the student soccer team. After a year and a half: cave accident in Thailand claims further victims. In: noz.de. December 28, 2019, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  2. ↑ วนอุทยาน ถ้ำ หลวง - ขุนน้ำ นาง นอน. ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: dnp.go.th. (Thai).
  3. ^ Martin Ellis: The Caves of Northern Thailand . tape 2 , 2018, ISBN 978-0-244-33343-0 , pp. 10 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed March 31, 2020]).
  4. ↑ Martin Ellis: Floor plan of the Tham Luang cave. June 2018, accessed on March 31, 2020 .
  5. ^ Cave rescue: Boys and football coach free from Tham Luang. In: bbc.co.uk. July 10, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  6. ^ A b Alina Schadwinkel: Rescue operation in Thailand. What we know - and what not. In: Zeit.de. July 9, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Twelve boys trapped in a Thai cave. In: ORF.at. June 25, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  8. ^ Luang Nang Non - Cave Rescue Incident. In: caverescue.org.uk. British Cave Rescue Council, June 28, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 (UK English).
  9. ^ British divers join rescue effort at Thai cave for football team. In: Telegraph.co.uk. June 28, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Thai navyseal. In: Facebook.com. July 2, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  11. ↑ a b Thailand cave rescue: Boys found alive after nine days. In: bbc.co.uk. July 2, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Richard C. Paddock, Muktita Suhartono: Thailand Cave Rescue Turns to How to Extract Trapped Soccer Team. In: nytimes.com. July 3, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Football kids found - doctor brings energy drinks. In: Tagesanzeiger.ch. July 3, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  14. ↑ The real hero in the cave is a stateless boy. In: Welt.de. July 11, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  15. ↑ After the successful cave rescue in Thailand: A story with many heroes. In: Suedkurier.de. July 11, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Panu Wongcha-um, Patpicha Tanakasempipat: Throng of volunteers gather to rescue Thai boys trapped in cave. In: Reuters.com. July 6, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  17. ^ Rosemary E. Lunn: Cave divers Mallinson and Jewel fly out to Thailand. In: xray-mag.com. July 4, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Trapped in a cave: Boys get diving lessons. In: KleineZeitung.at. July 4, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Michael Safi, Jacob Goldberg: Thailand cave rescue sparks celebration of 'mission impossible'. In: TheGuardian.com. July 10, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Time window for rescue "limited". In: ORF.at. July 6, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Cave drama in Thailand: diver died in rescue operation. In: sn.at. Salzburger Nachrichten, July 6, 2018, accessed on March 31, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Only a short time frame for rescue. In: ORF.at. July 7, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Mattha Busby (now), Kate Lyons (earlier): Four boys taken to hospital; operation to resume later - as it happened. In: TheGuardian.com. July 9, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Thailand cave rescue. Lucky 13. In: ThomsonReuters.com. July 12, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 (UK English).
  25. ↑ Sketch of the course of the cave to the chamber of the trapped, in Kleine Zeitung, around July 3, 2018.
  26. ↑ Mattha Busby (now), Kate Lyons (earlier): Thai cave rescue: governor says it is unknown when boys will be out - live. ( Memento of July 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: TheGuardian.com. July 8, 2018.
  27. ^ Bernard Lagan: Thai cave rescue: Australian doctor Richard Harris advised rescuers to bring out weakest boys first. In: TheTimes.co.uk. July 9, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  28. ↑ Thailand cave rescue: Doctor demands new plan warning 'weakest may die if not saved now'. In: express.co.uk. July 9, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Mattha Busby (now), Kate Lyons (earlier): Thailand cave rescue: navy Seals confirm four boys have been rescued - live. ( Memento of July 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: TheGuardian.com. July 8, 2018.
  30. ↑ Boys stretchered to hospital for treatment as all 12 and coach rescued from Thai cave system. In: news.com.au. July 10, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  31. ^ Cave rescue: The Australian diving doctor who stayed with the boys. In: bbc.com. July 11, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  32. ↑ Ben Graham, Benedict Brook: Calls for Aussie cave diver to be given Australian of the Year award. In: news.com.au. July 11, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  33. ↑ The Latest: Medic, diverse who stayed with boys leave cave. ( Memento of July 11, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: WashingtonPost.com. July 10, 2018, accessed on July 11, 2018.
  34. ↑ Second rescue operation in Thailand successfully completed. In: derStandard.at. July 9, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  35. ^ A tense but joyful outcome for the cave rescue at Tham Luang Nang Non Cave - British Cave Rescue Council. Retrieved March 31, 2020 (UK English).
  36. ↑ Michael Safi, Veena Thoopkrajae, Jacob Goldberg: Up to four boys brought out from Thai cave. Diving team and Thai Navy confirm first two boys from group of 12 trapped for two weeks have been freed. ( Memento of July 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: TheGuardian.com. July 8, 2018.
  37. ^ Willi Germund: Risky dive. In: Zeit.de. July 9, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  38. ↑ Navaon Siradapuvadol, Mike Ives: Soccer Players and Their Coach Are on the Mend, Says Thailand. In: nytimes.com. July 11, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  39. ↑ Thai boys soccer team discharged from hospital. ( Memento from July 18, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: Zeit.de. July 18, 2018, accessed July 18, 2018.
  40. ↑ Sebastian Eder: Narongsak Osottanakorn. The whole world is currently listening to his words. In: faz.net. July 8, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  41. ↑ Peter Maxwill: We ignoramuses. In: Spiegel.de. July 7, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  42. ↑ Frank Nägele: Why we pity the children in the cave - and not others. In: ksta.de. July 8, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  43. ↑ Marco Bertolaso : Children in Thailand and Children on the Mediterranean. In: Deutschlandfunk.de. July 9, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  44. ↑ Matthias Drobinski: Two kinds of pity. In: Sueddeutsche.de. July 9, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  45. ↑ Sabine Rein: “They have faces and stories”. In: Tagesschau.de. July 10, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  46. ↑ Cave Drama: FIFA Invites Team. In: Sport1.de. July 6, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  47. ^ Caspar Busse: Elon Musk in Thailand. What the Tesla founder is doing in the cave. In: Sueddeutsche.de. July 10, 2018, accessed March 31, 2020 .
  48. ↑ 13 LOST - The Untold Story of the Thai Cave Rescue. Video at: YouTube.com. Accessed March 31, 2020.