The cave structure hinders the rescue of the Thai football team

Rescue workers have difficulties in rescuing the Thai team missing due to the complex structure of the cave, narrow passageways, and many branches.

Thai teen team in the age of 11 -16 and 25-year-old coach enter Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province after training on September 23. They were trapped in it due to rising flood waters. The rescue team found the team on July 2, after 9 days of searching in the surrounding caves and mountains. However, rescue workers still face a major challenge to bring the team out in adverse weather conditions, according to Mother Nature Network.

The moment to find the Thai team missing.(Video: USA Today).

Caves and complex situations

The entrance to Tham Luang cave has an impressive and absolutely safe setting. However, the cave system stretches 10 km with many narrow corridors and large hollow compartments penetrating the mountain of Doi Nang Non bordering Thailand and Myanmar.

Rescue team put pumps in the cave door to rescue the stuck team.(Photo: Linh Pham).

The entrance to the cave forms a vertical section of the T-shaped intersection. Going left or right leads to some narrow corridors. When the rainy season begins in June every year, narrow corridors are flooded. Authorities believe that the team is stuck after a long storm and heavy rain has cleared all their footprints.

Between heavy rains and strict time, rescue divers struggled to find missing teams."Divers must search in the dark, on uneven terrain with mud and rock everywhere. Therefore, each diving, oxygen tank only allows rescue crews of the Royal Thai Navy. going 30 meters away and having to come back later, "said Anupong Paojinda, Interior Minister.

Rescue phase

After the rescue team found the team about 400 meters away from Pattaya beach, the search phase turned to rescue. To get the team out of the cave, the authorities will have to pump the water out. However, the authorities determined the team needed medical assistance and provided food and water, because they did not eat anything for 10 days.

"We will pump all the water out of the cave, then take all 13 people out. We are planning to take nurses and doctors into the cave to check their health and mobility. will work all night, " said Narongsak Osottanakorn, governor of Chiang Rai province.

The whole team was found after 9 missing days.(Photo: AFP).

Water pumping is the only option for rescue workers. Edd Sorenson, the Florida Caves' Recovery and Rescue Coordinator, identified any other treatment as dangerous, especially in this situation.

"When they have to be in a dark place that is invisible, unfamiliar with the landscape above their heads and with extreme conditions, they are very easy to panic, which can cause themselves or rescue workers to die. Therefore, I think it is better to bring food, water, oxygen filtration systems if necessary, and I think it is necessary to wait until they receive relief supplies to help them feel comfortable, not be cold, hungry and dehydrated, "Sorenson said.

1. How can the Thai team survive in the cave?