PH lauds Thailand for daring cave rescue of boys soccer team

Rescuers are sent inside Tham Luang Nang Non cave to continue the rescue after the 12 boys and their soccer coach have been found alive in the cave where they've been missing for over a week after monsoon rains blocked the main entrance on July 03, 2018 in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Volanthen said Saman's death last Friday had brought a "bittersweet" taste to an otherwise "excellent" operation.

"And all this time four fearless Navy Seals sat with the Wild Boars knowing they were in as much danger as the kids".

Wild Boars head coach Nopparat Khantavong said his remaining players were in good spirits after returning to practice knowing their friends were safe.

The team became captured within a cave in Thailand on June 23 and survived for 18 long days before being miraculously rescued by a fearless group of global divers.

Earlier in the week Sunrise reporter Chris Reason showed a sneak peak inside the opening chamber, but this latest footage has made the shocking rescue all that more incredible.

The cave rescue was a risky operation.

The Philippines on Friday joined the worldwide community in rejoicing with Thailand after the daring rescue of 12 members of a boys soccer team and their coach in a flooded cave complex in the northern part of the country. Moreover, Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha confirmed the boys were given the drug "to make them not excited, not stressed", according to the Daily Mail.

John Volanthen said he's just relieved the boys are all alive, and praised the collective effort of the worldwide contingent of rescuers.

You seem like a hero to us, mate.

"We don't see the children as at fault or as heroes".

The boys were described as generally being in normal condition in a Chiang Rai hospital, though their levels of recuperation varied because they were removed from the cave over three days.

"We were very pleased and we were very relieved that they were all alive, but I think at that point we realized the enormity of the situation, and that's perhaps why it took a while to get them all out", Volanthen told Reuters after landing in the United Kingdom.

There have been calls for Mr Volanthen and Rick Stanton to receive awards for their efforts. And then the miracle: they got out.

Sadly, soon after Dr Harris left the cave his father passed away suddenly.

Members of the Thai Navy SEALs team arrived home to their base at Sattahip, feted by the Thai people but saddened by the loss of their colleague.

The news comes a day after Pure Flix CEO and managing partner Michael Scott announced that his studio was working on a dramatic adaptation of the events surrounding the trapped Thai soccer team and their 25-year-old coach.