Ukrainian divers with foreign colleagues rescue children from a flooded cave in Thailand
Ukrainian divers with foreign colleagues rescue children from a flooded cave in Thailand

Video: Ukrainian divers with foreign colleagues rescue children from a flooded cave in Thailand

Video: Ukrainian divers with foreign colleagues rescue children from a flooded cave in Thailand
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International operation to rescue children from a flooded Thai cave
International operation to rescue children from a flooded Thai cave

The whole world has been following the operation to rescue 12 children from a flooded Thai cave for 10 days. Having become hostages of a natural cataclysm, the guys held out all this time with practically no food supplies in the pitch darkness. On July 2, Ukrainian diver Vsevolod Korobov left a message on his Facebook page: “Found !!! Found`em !!!”, and after that he gave interviews in which he shared details about how the searches were carried out and how it is planned to bring the children to the surface.

Rescue operation
Rescue operation

The scale of the rescue operation in Thailand is striking: thousands of people from all over the world work day and night to rescue the young heroes - 12 teenagers and their mentor, who were trapped in a flooded cave. Descending into the cave, the guys planned a short walk underground along a simple route, and after that they wanted to celebrate the birthday of one of the boys. Most likely, their mentor did not think about the danger of flooding: it was assumed that they would return to the surface in three hours, and during this time nothing terrible would happen.

One of the boys waiting to be rescued in the dry room of the cave
One of the boys waiting to be rescued in the dry room of the cave
The children who went to the cave became hostages of a natural cataclysm
The children who went to the cave became hostages of a natural cataclysm

Nature decreed otherwise: a downpour began, and the cave began to flood. All that the people who were held hostage managed to do was to climb into one of the halls of the cave, which remained dry. Fortunately, the temperature there is about 23 degrees, so the children were not threatened with hypothermia. How the mentor managed to suppress panic and correctly distribute the small supply of food that ended up in the backpacks is an open question. However, when the rescue divers found the guys, they looked more or less calm, although, of course, very weak.

Experts from all over the world work in the cave
Experts from all over the world work in the cave

The Thai authorities initially planned to solve the problem on their own without involving international specialists. It soon became clear that the searches were unsuccessful. Then they turned to volunteers, and now Australians, Americans, Chinese and Israelis are working on the scene. The path to the children was paved by a team of four divers - a Thai, a Belgian and two Ukrainians. Vsevolod Korobov and Maxim Polezhaka, cave diving instructors who work in Phuket, were able to quickly take part in the rescue operation.

Rescue operation
Rescue operation

The rescue team had a hard time finding the children. Schoolchildren are in a dry room 5 km from the entrance; you can get there only under water. Strong currents and absolutely zero visibility complicate the process significantly. Rescuers managed to lay cables, holding on to which you can not swim, but pull yourself up, moving towards the goal. In not completely flooded areas, there are also difficulties: you need to move on clay soil and sand, climb almost steep walls, and crawl into narrow passages. And all this - with cylinders and heavy equipment.

Relatives are looking forward to meeting their children
Relatives are looking forward to meeting their children

Despite the fact that the children have already been found, it is not yet possible to evacuate them from the natural trap. Rescuers are working simultaneously in several directions: pumping water from the cave and draining nearby lakes, looking for alternative routes to this dry room, experimenting with drilling a well through which the children could be taken. Divers are not yet able to take the children out on their own, since very serious preparation is needed to pass along the route.

Rescue operation in Thailand
Rescue operation in Thailand

It has now been decided to give the malnourished children a few days to rehab and start teaching them diving. After - take out of the cave one by one, accompanied by rescuers. The main thing is that the weather conditions do not worsen in the near future, as the showers will inevitably cause a new rise in the water level in the cave. The weather will completely normalize only after 4-5 months, so there is no need to rely on a natural way of salvation.

Divers work in the flooded areas of the cave
Divers work in the flooded areas of the cave

History knows other critical situations when people's lives depended on the professionalism of divers. For example, brave rescuers-divers prevented an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

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