Boys' soccer team and coach found alive in Thailand cave

The all 12 boys football team alongside their  coach who went missing after being trapped for nine days in the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai, Thailand, have been found alive, the regional governor announced on Monday.

Speaking after a mammoth search operation, Narongsak Osottanakorn confirmed to reporters at the cave entrance that the trapped persons were discovered by naval special forces and are all safe.
Osottanakorn said, “They are all safe but the mission is not completed.
“Our mission is to search, rescue and return. So far we just found them. Next mission is to bring them out from the cave and send them home.”

The boys were discovered at about 10 p.m. Monday by British divers some 400 meters (1,300 feet) from where they were believed to be stranded several kilometers inside the cave.
In the video, posted on the Thai Navy SEAL Facebook page, one of the boys shouts to the rescuers: “we are hungry … shall we go outside?”
In response the British diver says: “Many, many people are coming. … We are the first,” in reference to the vast and complex rescue operation that has taken over the mountainside.
The harrowing task of getting the boys out is complicated by the fact that they are in a weak state and are not experienced divers.
Experts said it could take weeks  if not months to get them out with much of the cave still submerged by floods.
If diving proves impossible, there is a outside chance they can be drilled out or wait for waters to recede and walk out on foot.
But the clock is ticking with heavy rains forecast to return this week as the monsoon season bites deeper.
The priority is to rehabilitate the group before they start the tricky journey out, officials said, reluctant to offer a concrete timeline.
Relatives and much of Thailand  exploded with relief and jubilation on getting the news the team were alive and safe.
“It’s unimaginable. I’ve been waiting for 10 days, I never imagined this day would come,” a father of one of the boys said.
The team became trapped on June 23 after heavy rains blocked the cave’s main entrance.
Rescuers found their bicycles, soccer cleats and backpack near the cave’s opening, and spotted handprints and footprint further in — leading them to the spot they were eventually found.