SeaHorse81
Contributor
I'm sure that regardless of how it gets written up by reporters who don't fully understand what they're writing about, the people on-site are doing what makes sense.
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They might need the time to get their 02 saturation up to normal
Diving them out has a high risk of fatalities. Leaving them in there until the monsoon season is over has a high risk of fatalities. One risk is immediate the other is delayed. I would not want to be the person making the decision.
After days of searching, rescue teams on Monday (July 2) located a school group trapped in the Tham Luang cave in Thailand.
The 12 students and their teacher are safe on high ground but a storm is expected by Friday and they need to get out.
Volunteer specialist divers from the Spéléo Secours Français have offered to help.
"What we could bring is a dozen specialists trained for speleological dives using equipment dedicated to this environment who are able to dive in troubled water without any visibility," Olivier Lanet told Euronews.
"We have developed a stretcher which can be used to move a person through floodwater even if they are unable to move on their own. And this stretcher, once in the water, weighs nothing. It floats and can be easily maneuvered by two experienced divers."
The remaining danger, Lanet expalined, is that monsoon season is just starting and, once in full swing, water levels inside the cave network will rise and could fill the chamber where the boys have taken shelter.
"If that happens," Lanet says, "it would be catastrophic."
Lanet is optimistic his team could rescue the school group in less than 12 hours:
"It would take four hours to reach the victims, perhaps two hours to teach them the basics of diving and to make two attempts. And then, probably four or five hours to bring them to the surface."