Thai Cave Rescue Update: it took not 18, but 90 divers and what was reported to be a three hour trip for each young boy, but the attempt to rescue 12 boys from a large cave trail in Thailand is going well, thus far. It’s too bad President Donald Trump had to take to Twitter to hog credit for it. But the update details, first.
(As a note, tributes have been paid to Saman Kunan, the volunteer former navy Seal diver who died in the attempted rescue of the group of Thai boys trapped in that cave. His photo marks the video recap, above.)
The Thai Cave Rescue Mission that started very early this morning by American Eastern Standard Time, was marked by a change in approach: the much reported-on idea and plan of using a small kid-sized submarine that was advanced by Elon Musk was tossed in favor of a two-by-one diver to child ratio that called for the boys trapped in the cave to learn underwater cave diving methods before the mission could start. As NBC News’ Bill Neely reported on Twitter…
Thai rescue commander says it’s going better than expected. 90 divers involved- 10 at the Apex, taking the boys out two by two. 4 now out & in hospital. Divers put each boy underneath them as they swam/dived out. #ThaiCaveRescue
— Bill Neely (@BillNeelyNBC) July 8, 2018
And Channel News Asia added “The first boy evacuated the cave at 5.40pm (local time) followed by the second boy 10 minutes later. The third boy exited the cave at 7.40pm, and the fourth boy at 7.50pm. No word on which boys have been rescued.10:09PM: The boys were wearing full-faced masks while hanging on to the bodies of rescue divers: Mission chief Narongsak. 10:08PM: The rescue operation held today was very smooth, says the rescue mission chief at the press conference. Boys were selected to come out of the cave based on their health assessment.”
Rescue operations underway to extract 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in a cave in Thailand.
– Four boys have been rescued.
– Next operation will take place in 10-20 hours.
Today was very successful, more than expected. #ThaiCaveRescue #ThamLuang #ถ้ำหลวง pic.twitter.com/qfRioieHrT— PhotoGraph (@ThailandLB) July 8, 2018
A Worldwide Effort As Two Brits Lead The Way, Sorry President Trump
Jonas Barnawi on Twitter reports that the Thai Cave Rescue was lead by two men from the United Kingdom, writing “The 2 British men who are leading the rescue operation are John Volanthen and Rick Stanton. They are universally regarded as the best cave divers in the world. They were the ones who found the boys & are now leading the rescue mission.”
The 2 British men who are leading the rescue operation are John Volanthen and Rick Stanton. They are universally regarded as the best cave divers in the world.
They were the ones who found the boys & are now leading the rescue mission.HEROES???? #ThaiCaveRescue pic.twitter.com/iioHZtOH3h
— Jonas Barnawi (@realsny) July 8, 2018
In all, there are 90 divers involved and of them, 50 from foreign countries as Channel News Asia reports.
That fact either escaped, or upset President Donald Trump, who took to Twitter, not to celebrate the World coming together to help those boys, but to divide the World, and point out American involvement, tweeting “The U.S. is working very closely with the Government of Thailand to help get all of the children out of the cave and to safety. Very brave and talented people!”
The U.S. is working very closely with the Government of Thailand to help get all of the children out of the cave and to safety. Very brave and talented people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2018
President Obama would not have done that.
Stay tuned.