Foreign diver involved in the rescue mission says he was in awe of the boys’ ability to stay calm
A foreign diver involved in the mission to save 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded Thai cave has hailed the children as “incredibly strong”, and described their treacherous escape journey as unprecedented.
“It is not in any way normal for kids to go cave diving at age 11,” Ivan Karadzic, who runs a diving business in Thailand, told the BBC in an interview that was published online on Tuesday.
Zero visibility
“They are diving in something considered (an) extremely hazardous environment in zero visibility, the only light that is in there is the torch light we bring our self.”
The boys, aged from 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach, ventured into the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand on June 23 after football practice and became trapped when heavy rains flooded the cave.
Two British divers found them nine days later huddled on a muddy ledge in pitch darkness more than 4 km (2.5 miles) inside the cave system.
Authorities then gathered 90 divers, 50 of them foreigners, to help extract the boys out of a claustrophobic tunnel network that in some places was completely filled with water and so narrow that they could only be squeezed through.
Adding to the dangers, most of the boys could not swim, and none had scuba diving experience.
However the divers escorted all 12 boys and their coach out by Tuesday.
‘Feared the worst’
Mr. Karadzic, who the BBC reported was stationed near a difficult stretch of the cave about half-way along the escape route to replace oxygen tanks and help guide people through, said the rescue workers had feared the worst.
“We were obviously very afraid of any kind of panic from the divers,” he said, adding he was in awe of the boys’ ability to stay calm.
“I cannot understand how cool these small kids are, you know? Thinking about how they’ve been kept in a small cave for two weeks, they haven’t seen their mums. Incredibly strong kids. Unbelievable almost.”
Officials did not comment on the rescue mission as it took place, so details of the final day of the rescue and the condition of the last five to be brought out were not immediately known.
The eight boys brought out on Sunday and Monday were in good health overall and some asked for chocolate bread for breakfast, officials said earlier.
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