Rescue teams have slogged through mud and pouring rain, battling the elements for over 10 days in an effort to save 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach trapped deep in a flooded Thai cavern.
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A multinational operation continued Wednesday to rescue the group after they disappeared in the cavern on June 23 after a post-practice outing went awry, prompting the high-profile search and rescue effort.
News that the team had been found alive Monday sparked relief, celebrations and an outpouring of praise in a country transfixed by the drama and its blanket media coverage.
In this July 3, 2018 image taken from video provided by the Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page, a Thai boy smiles as Thai Navy SEAL medic help injured children inside a cave in Mae Sai, northern Thailand.
Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page via AP
While efforts to pump out floodwaters are continuing, some Thai officials have indicated that heavy rains forecast for this weekend could force them to decide the boys should swim and dive out using the same complicated route of narrow passageways through which their rescuers entered.
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In this July 3, 2018 image taken from video provided by the Thai Navy Seal, Thai boys are with Navy SEALs inside the cave, Mae Sai, northern Thailand.
Thai Navy Seal via AP
Divers, medics, and Thai navy SEALS were providing the young men with medicines and food while experts assessed conditions for getting them out safely, a task the government said would not be easy.
“The water is very strong and space is narrow. Extracting the children takes a lot of people,” Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters.
Coverage of the Thai boys trapped in a cave on Globalnews.ca:
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“Now we are teaching the children to swim and dive,” he said, adding that if water levels fell and the flow weakened, they would be taken out quickly.
Photos of the operation show teams slogging through the elements over the last 11 days. Here’s a look.
In this Thursday, June 28, 2018 photo, soldiers and volunteers push a fresh water truck stuck in mud at the staging area for the missing soccer team and their coach in Mae Sai, northern Thailand.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Australian Federal Police and Defense Force personnel talk to a Thai rescuer, right, before diving for the 12 boys and their soccer coach were found alive, in Mae Sai, in northern Thailand, July 3, 2018.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
A Thai rescuer walks near where water is pumped from a flooded cave after all 12 boys and their soccer coach were found alive, in Mae Sai, in northern Thailand on July 3, 2018.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
A rescuer makes his way down muddy steps past pump hoses at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 soccer team members and their coach went missing in Mae Sai, in northern Thailand.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Rescuers make their way down at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing, in Mae Sai, northern Thailand, July 1, 2018.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
In this Thursday, June 28, 2018,photo, a pair of boots sit in thick mud at the staging area for search and rescue efforts for a missing soccer team and their coach in a large cave in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
A rescuer makes her way down muddy steps past pump hoses at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 soccer team members and their coach went missing, Friday, June 29, 2018, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
In this Thursday, June 28, 2018 photo, soldiers connect water pump hoses in the mud to help drain the cave where a young soccer team and their coach went missing in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Soldiers carry a pump to help drain the rising flood water in a cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been missing in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, Friday, June 29, 2018.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Thai soldiers searching for the missing children and their coach march out of the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand on Friday, June 29, 2018.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Rescue personnel walk out of the entrance to a cave complex where 12 soccer team members and their coach went missing, Thursday, June 28, 2018, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Relatives of 12 young soccer team members and their coach pray for their rescue after going missing in a large cave, Wednesday, June 27, 2018, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand.
AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit
Rescue personnel work at the Tham Luang cave complex, as members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand July 4, 2018.
Thai Navy Seal/Handout via Reuters
Rescue personnel work at the Tham Luang cave complex as members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand July 4, 2018.
Thai Navy Seal/Handout via Reuters
Family members watch a television news broadcast of the trapped members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach, after they have been found alive, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 4, 2018.
Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Rescue workers pass their time in front of the Tham Luang cave complex, as members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach have been found alive, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 3, 2018.
Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Soldiers and rescue workers work in Tham Luang cave complex, as an ongoing search for members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach continues, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 1, 2018.
Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Rescue workers are seen in Tham Luang caves during a search for 12 members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, June 27, 2018.
Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun