MAE SAI, Thailand: Conditions are “perfect” to evacuate a young football team from a flooded Thai cave in the coming days before fresh rains and a possible rise in carbon dioxide further imperil the group, the rescue mission chief said Saturday.
The plight of 12 Thai boys and their coach from the “Wild Boar” football team has transfixed Thailand since they became trapped in a cramped chamber of the Tham Luang cave complex on June 23.
Rescuers have conceded that evacuating the boys is a race against time with monsoon rains expected to undo days of round-the-clock drainage of the deluged cave.
“Now and in the next three or four days, the conditions are perfect (for evacuation) in terms of the water, the weather and the boys’ health,” Narongsak Osottanakorn the chief of the rescue operation told reporters.
“We have to make a clear decision on what we can do.”
While the oxygen level had stabilized he warned levels of “carbon dioxide are another factor” in considering when to move the group — in addition to impending rains which could cover much of the muddy ledge on which the group are sheltering.
“The water level may rise to the area where the children are sitting and make the area less than 10 square meters,” he said, citing estimates from cave divers and experts.
In the early hours of Saturday morning he said the boys were not yet ready to dive-out of the cave, a complex and dangerous task through twisting and jagged submerged passageways.
But his comments 12 hours later suggest the thinking has changed, with water levels inside the cave currently managed to their lowest point by constant drainage.
Earlier on Saturday Thai Navy SEALS published touching notes scrawled by the trapped footballers to their families, who are waiting for them agonizingly close-by outside the cave entrance.
The children urged relatives “not to worry” and asked eating their favorite food once they are safely evacuated.
In one Pheerapat, nicknamed “Night,” whose 16th birthday the group were celebrating in the cave when they became stuck on June 23 said:
“I love you, Dad, Mum and my sister. You don’t need to be worried about me.”
Meanwhile the 25-year-old Ekkapol Chantawong coach, the only adult to accompany the boys into the cave, sent his “apologies” to their parents.
“To all the parents, all the kids are still fine. I promise to take the very best care of the kids,” he said in a note given to divers on Friday.
“Thank you for all the moral support and I apologize to the parents.”
The boys are being trained in the basics of diving in case the floodwaters force authorities into a sudden evacuation.
The risks were underlined by the death on Friday of a former Thai Navy SEAL diver, who ran out of oxygen while returning from the chamber where the boys are trapped.
Saman Kunan had been trying to establish an air line to the chamber when he passed out and perished.
“We lost one man, but we still have faith to carry out our work,” Navy Seal commander Apakorn Yookongkaew said, adding that rescuers have “a limited time” to extract the boys.
Ekkapol’s message is the first from the coach, whose role in the team’s predicament has split Thai social media.
Many have lauding him after reports he gave his share of food to the kids before they were located and helped them get through nine days in the darkness.
Others have criticized him for agreeing to take the young boys into the cave during the monsoon season.
The group entered the cave on June 23 and got trapped as floodwaters gushed in.
![]()
Conditions ‘perfect’ for evacuation of Thai boys in cave
Conditions ‘perfect’ for evacuation of Thai boys in cave
Lebanon president accuses Hezbollah of working to ‘collapse’ state
- Joseph Aoun: ‘Whoever launched those missiles wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state’
- Ahmed Al-Sharaa: ‘We stand alongside Lebanese president Joseph Aoun in disarming Hezbollah’
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday accused Hezbollah of working to “collapse” the state and expressed Beirut’s readiness for “direct negotiations” with Israel, drawing the backing of his Syrian counterpart for his goal of disarming the Iran-backed group.
Lashing out at Hezbollah over its March 2 attack against Israel, which has drawn a devastating Israeli retaliation, Aoun told European officials “Whoever launched those missiles wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state, plunging it into aggression and chaos... all for the sake of the Iranian regime’s calculations.”
To stop the war, the Lebanese president proposed a four-point initiative and called on the international community to help implement it.
The plan included “establishing a full truce” with Israel, “logistical support” for the army to disarm Hezbollah, and “direct negotiations (with Israel) under international auspices.”
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa endorsed his Lebanese counterpart on Monday saying, “We stand alongside Lebanese president Joseph Aoun in disarming Hezbollah.”
The statements came as the war between Israel and Hezbollah pushed into a second week, with Israel carrying out heavy strikes on a financial firm linked to the group.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Lebanese authorities said on Monday that Israel’s attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded at least 1,313.
AFP has not been able to carry out a detailed breakdown of the figures.
According to the government, more than 660,000 people have registered as displaced, with 120,000 sleeping at official shelters as of Monday.
Evacuation warnings
Israel said it killed the head of Hezbollah’s Nasr unit operating in part of southern Lebanon, Abu Hussein Ragheb, on Monday.
Earlier, the Israeli military struck branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a US-sanctioned financial firm, after issuing evacuation warnings, according to Lebanese state media and AFP correspondents.
The Israeli army said it was “striking Hezbollah infrastructure” in the southern suburbs.
An AFP photographer in the area witnessed a massive explosion, while an armed Hezbollah member fired warning shots into the air to encourage residents to evacuate from their homes.
The Israeli army renewed previous orders for people in the area to leave.
Al-Qard Al-Hassan is a lifeline for mainly Shia Muslim communities battling a years-long financial crisis in Lebanon that has locked people out of their bank deposits.
It says it has more than 30 branches nationwide, mainly in Hezbollah bastions such as Beirut’s southern suburbs, but also in central Beirut and other major cities.
In Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon, an area outside of Hezbollah’s traditional sphere of influence, an AFP correspondent saw ambulances and civil defense vehicles gather around a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan.
Israel also bombed the firm’s branches during its last war with Hezbollah in 2024, including the one in Sidon.
Israeli tank fire killed a priest in the Christian southern Lebanese town of Al-Qlayaa, according to state media and a medical source.
‘Path of allegiance’
Hezbollah on Monday celebrated the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader.
“We renew our pledge of loyalty to this blessed approach and our steadfastness on the path of allegiance,” the group said in a statement.
It also claimed responsibility for at least 10 previous attacks against Israel and its forces, including against troops advancing into Lebanese border towns, as well as a missile salvo on an air base in Haifa.
It said it targeted the Israeli Home Front Command base in Ramla, near Tel Aviv, with “advanced missiles.”
Earlier Monday, it also said it had fought Israeli troops who landed in eastern Lebanon by helicopter, the second such incident since the latest war began.
Israeli strikes on sites belonging to the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Committee in the Tyre and Jwaya areas in south Lebanon killed two paramedics and wounded six, the health ministry said, accusing Israel of “systematic targeting of rescue teams.”
Despite the bombing in Beirut, Lebanon’s parliament met on Monday and postponed legislative elections by two years due to the conflict.
The polls had been scheduled to take place in May.
Lashing out at Hezbollah over its March 2 attack against Israel, which has drawn a devastating Israeli retaliation, Aoun told European officials “Whoever launched those missiles wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state, plunging it into aggression and chaos... all for the sake of the Iranian regime’s calculations.”
To stop the war, the Lebanese president proposed a four-point initiative and called on the international community to help implement it.
The plan included “establishing a full truce” with Israel, “logistical support” for the army to disarm Hezbollah, and “direct negotiations (with Israel) under international auspices.”
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa endorsed his Lebanese counterpart on Monday saying, “We stand alongside Lebanese president Joseph Aoun in disarming Hezbollah.”
The statements came as the war between Israel and Hezbollah pushed into a second week, with Israel carrying out heavy strikes on a financial firm linked to the group.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Lebanese authorities said on Monday that Israel’s attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded at least 1,313.
AFP has not been able to carry out a detailed breakdown of the figures.
According to the government, more than 660,000 people have registered as displaced, with 120,000 sleeping at official shelters as of Monday.
Evacuation warnings
Israel said it killed the head of Hezbollah’s Nasr unit operating in part of southern Lebanon, Abu Hussein Ragheb, on Monday.
Earlier, the Israeli military struck branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a US-sanctioned financial firm, after issuing evacuation warnings, according to Lebanese state media and AFP correspondents.
The Israeli army said it was “striking Hezbollah infrastructure” in the southern suburbs.
An AFP photographer in the area witnessed a massive explosion, while an armed Hezbollah member fired warning shots into the air to encourage residents to evacuate from their homes.
The Israeli army renewed previous orders for people in the area to leave.
Al-Qard Al-Hassan is a lifeline for mainly Shia Muslim communities battling a years-long financial crisis in Lebanon that has locked people out of their bank deposits.
It says it has more than 30 branches nationwide, mainly in Hezbollah bastions such as Beirut’s southern suburbs, but also in central Beirut and other major cities.
In Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon, an area outside of Hezbollah’s traditional sphere of influence, an AFP correspondent saw ambulances and civil defense vehicles gather around a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan.
Israel also bombed the firm’s branches during its last war with Hezbollah in 2024, including the one in Sidon.
Israeli tank fire killed a priest in the Christian southern Lebanese town of Al-Qlayaa, according to state media and a medical source.
‘Path of allegiance’
Hezbollah on Monday celebrated the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader.
“We renew our pledge of loyalty to this blessed approach and our steadfastness on the path of allegiance,” the group said in a statement.
It also claimed responsibility for at least 10 previous attacks against Israel and its forces, including against troops advancing into Lebanese border towns, as well as a missile salvo on an air base in Haifa.
It said it targeted the Israeli Home Front Command base in Ramla, near Tel Aviv, with “advanced missiles.”
Earlier Monday, it also said it had fought Israeli troops who landed in eastern Lebanon by helicopter, the second such incident since the latest war began.
Israeli strikes on sites belonging to the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Committee in the Tyre and Jwaya areas in south Lebanon killed two paramedics and wounded six, the health ministry said, accusing Israel of “systematic targeting of rescue teams.”
Despite the bombing in Beirut, Lebanon’s parliament met on Monday and postponed legislative elections by two years due to the conflict.
The polls had been scheduled to take place in May.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.