Thailand cave rescue operation: All the latest updates Rescue of youth football team and their coach from cave in Thailand is under way but could take days to complete.

Everyone ‘amazingly happy’

• While initial reactions in Chiang Rai have been positive in response to the first phase of the rescue operation, with most people “amazingly happy” about the four boys rescued so far, Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler said families were still concerned.

• “We’ve been speaking to families up in that cave site … they want to know if that’s their son,” he said, referencing the rescued boys.

• The youth football team and their coach have been surviving on “chips and water”, Heidler said, according to a woman who sold them snacks before they headed to the cave complex.

• Heidler noted the team had previously visited the site multiple times as part of their team building exercises. The flooding of the cave has been attributed to monsoon rains.

Four boys ‘transported to hospital’

• The four boys have been transported to a hospital in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, about 60km away, witnesses told Reuters news agency.

• Some 90 divers are involved in the rescue operation – 50 are foreign and 40 are Thai, the head of the rescue operation said.

It’s now pouring at #ThamLuangcave complex. Authorities said weather, water levels inside caves could affect evacuation https://t.co/Nz93mYEwJjpic.twitter.com/saBXipGPHB

— Pichayada P. (@PichayadaCNA) July 8, 2018

The four boys were on stretchers when they emerged from the cave. They’re now in hospital, some via chopper, some via road ambulance. Rescue mission to resume after masks/gear checked over and tanks replenished #tennews#thamluangcave#thaicaverescue

— Daniel Sutton (@danielsutton10) July 8, 2018

Governor: Next operation to start in 10-20 hours

• Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said Sunday’s rescue mission has come to an end and the next one is to begin 10-20 hours later, depending on weather conditions.

• Only four boys have come out of the flooded cave on Sunday, Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler reported, following earlier confusion where reports of another two had been recovered, emerged. That was “all wrong”, Heidler clarified   Heidler noted it appeared as though the four boys had been rescued in pairs, as each two were escorted out of the Tham Luang cave complex only minutes apart.

Boys will require immediate support: Psychiatry expert

• Doctor Andrea Danese, a Psychiatry lecturer at King’s College in London, told Al Jazeera that he expects most of the children to present emotional symptoms.

• “Several of them may be agitated, they may be irritable. They may be also acting out in terms of trying to deal with their emotions,” he said.

• According to Danese, 10-20 percent of the children may develop long-term mental health issues, such as “depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder … and in the older ones particularly perhaps substance abuse”.

• He also said that physical health issues may also occur due to malnutrition and high levels of stress.

Thai navy SEALs say four boys exit cave

• In a Facebook post, the Thai navy SEALs have said four members of the youth football team had exited the cave as of 19:47 local time (12:47 GMT)

Six boys have exited cave: official through Reuters

• A senior member of the rescue medical team has told the Reuters news agency that six boys have now exited the cave.

• Twelve members of a youth football team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach have been stuck inside the Tham Luang cave for more than two weeks.

Four boys reach rescue camp: official to AFP

• An official has told AFP news agency four boys from the Wild Boars football team have reached the rescue camp inside the Tham Luang cave complex.

• The rescue base camp has been set up in chamber three, situated about two kilometres into the cave.

• A BBC reporter on the scene has seen a total of four ambulances heading towards the cave.

Ambulance going up. Fourth I’ve seen in this short amount of time. pic.twitter.com/ADl47EHYCg

— Helier Cheung (@HelierCheung) July 8, 2018

Three boys out: Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler

• Three boys have made their way out of the cave according to a military source, Al Jazeera’s Scott Heidler has reported.

• Thailand’s interior minister is reportedly on the way to the field hospital, where the three boys are being assessed, Heidler said.

• Two ambulances have been seen leaving Tham Luang and one helicopter has been heard taking off. Helicopters have been waiting to take the members of the football team to Chiang Rai’s state capital where the boys and their coach will be treated in hospital.

A second ambulance has just come out pic.twitter.com/RE25TVNWMs

— Helier Cheung (@HelierCheung) July 8, 2018

UPDATE at 7pm: Two ambulances have left Tham Luang and are on their way to the helicopters in a field at Ban Chong School.

First two members of team recovered: local official through Reuters

• The first two members of the football team have been recovered from the Tham Luang cave complex, a local official has told Reuters news agency.

• “Two kids are out. They are currently at the field hospital near the cave,” Tossathep Boonthong, chief of Chiang Rai’s health department and part of the rescue team, said.

• “We are giving them a physical examination. They have not been moved to Chiang Rai hospital yet.”

• The report has not been confirmed by authorities.

Inside the Tham Luang cave complex

• Here’s a more detailed look inside the Tham Luang cave complex, where the football team and their coach became trapped on June 23.

Governor: ‘Unknown’ when first boys will emerge

• It is “unknown how long it will take before [rescuers] can bring out the first batch of boys,” Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn has said.

• In a press release containing an update on the rescue mission, which has now been under way for more than eight hours, Osottanakorn said “divers will work with medics in the cave to assess the boys’ health before determining who will come out first”.

• “They cannot decide how many of them will be able to come out for the first operation. Based on the complexity and difficulty of the cave environment it is unknown how long it might take and how many children would exit the cave,” the statement said.

These are just some of the helicopters standing by to fly out the 13 “Wild Boars” youth football team to the next hospital if necessary, as divers are beginning their extraction out of the #ThamLaung since earlier this morning. pic.twitter.com/QuPN3HhjIr

— Saksith Saiyasombut (@SaksithCNA) July 8, 2018

Rescue in groups

• More than seven hours into the operation, the first boys are now expected to be making their way out of the cave complex.

• Bangkok Post reported that a source had told them the football team and their coach would be rescued in four batches: one of four and three of three people.

• Rescue authorities said the coach will be the last to be brought out, Bangkok Post reported.

• There have not been official updates on the operation.

Rescue operation in pictures

PM to visit on Monday

• Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha plans to visit the cave site on Monday, according to a government spokesman.

• “For the people who are currently bringing the 13 … out of the Tham Luang cave, he wishes safety and success,” government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.

• Some Thais were critical of an earlier visit by Prayuth to the cave, which they considered to be opportunistic, Reuters news agency reported. His government has recently faced pro-democracy protests in the capital, Bangkok.

Tham Luang cave complex

• The Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province is 10km long.

• The boys and their coach are trapped kilometres deep inside and will have to make their way out through passages, some of which are fully submerged.

• Last week, rescue mission chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said the “biggest crisis spot” for diving is a tiny passageway near the Sam Yak junction.

• “There is a tunnel that has a passageway going up and coming down narrowly and you have to turn a bit and it’s very small,” Osottanakorn said on July 2.

Rescue operation ‘still a huge risk’: cave expert

• Anmar Mirza, cave expert and US National Cave Rescue Commission coordinator, told Al Jazeera that the boys’ weakness due to nine days of starvation makes the rescue operation very risky.

• “It takes a long time to recover and they have simply not had that time. I’m hoping that they have drilled well enough that there aren’t any problems but it’s still a huge risk,” he said.

• “The divers have built a level of trust with the boys and that’s part of the psychology of getting them out. In most of the places the diver can be right next to them. There are those few spots where they cannot be side by side, but again they can communicate with them by the fact that they’re just right close there. So, with luck, that keeps them calm.”

‘Please bring me pork’

• On Saturday, the Thai navy SEALs posted notes from the football team on their Facebook page.

“I love you, Dad, Mum and my sister. You don’t need to be worried about me.”

Thailand cave boys send handwritten letters to their families. pic.twitter.com/k00Bu3mHOQ

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 7, 2018

Thai navy SEALs vow to bring football team home

• In a Facebook post posted just after 11:00am (4:00 GMT), the Thai navy SEALs vow to bring the Wild Boars youth football team home.

• “We, the Thai team and the international team will bring the Wild Boars home,” the post reads.

Keeping ‘panic element’ out essential: dive expert

• Preventing the boys from panicking during their rescue is of the essence, New Zealand Diving’s Neil Bennett told Al Jazeera.

• “The training up to this point would be really focused on trying to keep them calm, explaining that they’re going to be in poor visibility. Explaining that they have to keep the air supply in their mouth. It’s really about dealing with the situation they’re facing rather than trying to install perfect dive skills. That’s never going to happen in this situation,” he said.

• “In a normal situation you would have experienced professionals that might need rescue, not someone who’s a complete novice who’s never been in the water before, let alone who can’t swim.

• “So the real factor is trying to keep that panic element out of the way because that’s where all the dangers come – as soon as someone panics then all sorts of problems come for the rescuers because a panicked diver can actually be a danger to the rescuer as much as themselves.”

Rescue operation begins

• Diving teams and medical personnel entered the cave at 10:00 local time (03:00 GMT), rescue mission chief Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters on Sunday.

• Thirteen foreign and five Thai navy SEAL divers are taking part in the rescue mission, which could take two to four days. Each boy will be accompanied by two divers on their way out.

• It will take at least 11 hours for the first person to be rescued, meaning the first member of the team could come out at 21:00 (14:00 GMT) at the earliest.

• Read more about the start of the rescue operation.