B1. The Thai Cave Rescue

The Thai Cave Rescue

In June 2018, twelve boys from a soccer team and their coach went into a cave in Thailand. The oldest boy was 16 and the youngest, only 11 years old.

Suddenly, heavy rains flooded the cave. The boys and their coach were trapped inside!

The boys were stuck 4 kilometers deep and it was pitch black. The monsoon rains continued and the water level kept rising.

Rescuers from many countries came to help. There were divers from the UK, USA, Australia, China, Japan, Laos, Myanmar and more. Over 10,000 people worked together to save the boys. It was one of the biggest rescue operations in history.

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The rescuers looked for the boys for nine days. Finally, they found them. They were alive but tired, frightened and very hungry.

Getting the boys out was extremely difficult and dangerous.

Sadly, one brave Thai diver, Saman Kunan died while transporting scuba tanks. Now, there is a statue of him outside the caves.

The rescuers worked hard to get the boys out safely. They sedated the boys and took them out on stretchers partly underwater.

Some parts of the cave were narrower than others. Some passages were only 38 centimeters (15 inches) wide. The journey out the cave took nine to eleven hours for each boy.

After three long days, all twelve boys and their coach were finally out of the cave. Everyone was so happy and excited. The parents were relieved.

The news story was told around the world. The boys were very brave, and the rescuers showed when people work together, they can do incredible things!