CHIANG RAI: Nineteen divers entered Tham Luang cave at 10.08am on Tuesday, hoping to bring out the remaining four boys and their football coach still trapped inside.
Rescue operation chief Narongsak Osotthanakorn, former governor of Chiang Rai, made the announcement at the Pong Pha tambon administration organisation near the cave on Tuesday morning. He said experience gained during the successful extractions in the preceding two days would allow them to work faster and more efficiently.
"If nothing goes wrong the four boys and the coach, along with the doctor and three Seals with them, will leave the cave together today. The mission today is more difficult than in the past two days, with all nine to be brought out. Everyone please give us moral support," Mr Narongsak said, to big applause from those present.
Mr Narongsak said about 100 people were involved in the operation on Tuesday, including the 19 divers newly sent into the flooded cave.
The first extraction on Sunday took 11 hours. Experience in the cave cut the mission time to about nine hours on Monday.
"Today we hope it can be done within the same time or faster," said Mr Narongsak, now the governor of nearby Phayao province.
Mr Narongsak politely rejected the much publicised effort of American high-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to help the mission.
Mr Musk and his team spent last week designing and building a small submarine capsule to help bring the boys out safely, based on a liquid oxygen transfer tube used in his space company's Falcon rocket.
“Although his technology is good and sophisticated, it’s not practical for use on this mission,” Mr Narongsak said.
Twelve local footballers aged 11-16 and their 25-year-old coach were trapped in Tham Luang cave in the Tham Luang Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Mae Sai district after entering the complex on June 23. Rescuers found them deep inside on July 2 and their extraction started on Sunday. Doctors said on Tuesday that the eight boys earlier extracted were in good condition. One rescuer died in the cave.