Lord of the Dance
All 12 boys and their football coach have been rescued from Thailand cave after 18-day ordeal
Sport

All 12 boys and their football coach have been rescued from Thailand cave after 18-day ordeal

ALL 12 boys and their football coach have been rescued from a cave in northern Thailand after more than two weeks trapped by monsoon floods.

The Royal Thai Navy SEALS confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that every member of the stricken group had successfully swam through flooded passages in Tham Luang Cave to safety.

"The 12 Wild Boars and coach have emerged from the cave and they are safe," the Thai Navy SEAL unit said on its official Facebook page.

The 13 members of the Wild Boars FC soccer team became trapped on June 23 when monsoon rains flooded the cave shortly after they ventured inside.

A rescue operation was launched on Sunday after further monsoon rains were forecast - with eight boys saved and transported to hospital by Monday evening.

Some 19 divers re-entered the cave today and as with previous rescues, two divers escorted the footballers to safety with tethers.

The final five members of the club were extracted this afternoon from more than 3km inside the cave.

The group were discovered on a narrow ledge above a huge pool of murky water by two British divers around nine days after their disappearance over a week ago.

Their rescue comes after former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan, 37, died while laying air tanks underground on Thursday.

Early tests indicate all of the boys, aged 11-17, and their 25-year-old coach could be suffering from lung infections, with full blood test results expected in the next 24 hours.

It is understood that none of the boys will be discharged for at least seven days.