The fifth boy has been extracted from the cave in northern Thailand where 12 members of a boys' soccer team and their coach have been trapped for more than two weeks, a witness told Xinhua.

The boy emerged from the cave at about 5:00 p.m. local time Monday and has been transferred to a hospital in Chiang Rai by helicopter after six hours' rescue operation, according to the witness.

The rescue operation for the rest people trapped in the flooded cave since June 23 resumed Monday morning after the first four boys were successfully pulled out from the cave on Sunday evening.

A helicopter was roaring above the media center near the cave site, with an ambulance whirring by.

Narongsak Osatanakorn, head of the joint command center coordinating the operation, said the conditions that had triggered Sunday's operation, declining water levels in the cave, the readiness of rescuers and the physical and mental health of the stranded boys, were the same on Monday morning and the rescue had commenced five hours' earlier than expected.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha inspected the cave site Monday afternoon after a press briefing in southern Thailand's Phuket.

He urged the public not to put too much pressure on the rescue operation.

The 12 boys and their coach went missing in the cave that was flooded since June 23. They were found when the search, joined by more than 1,000 international rescuers, entered the ninth day.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)