Rescue divers have delivered messages from the 12 Thai boys and their coach trapped inside the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand. The brief messages include requests for fried chicken and to go home as soon as possible.
The handwritten notes to their families also reassure parents,“don’t worry… we are all strong.”
Others read “Teacher, don’t give us lots of homework,” and “When we get out of here, we want to eat many things. We want to go home as soon as possible.”
The Wild Boars’ 25-year-old coach Ekkapol Chantawong also apologised to all the parents.
According to translations by the BBC Chantawong wrote:
“Dear all kids’ parents, now all of them are fine, the rescue team is treating us well.
“And I promise I will take care of the kids as best as I can. Thank you for everyone’s that come to help.
“I also sincerely apologise to the kids’ parents.”
The Thai Navy SEAL team posted the messages to their Facebook page:
These are responses to messages sent by the children’s parents – their first form of communication with each other.
On Saturday morning, local time, Chiang Rai province Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn shared the boys were learning diving and breathing techniques but were not ready to attempt an evacuation. However, if the forecasted heavy rain arrives on Sunday, authorities may have to attempt an urgent rescue.
ABC News America report rescuers have been briefed on a proposed operation called the “buddy system”, which could begin this weekend. According to the US government report obtained by ABC, the Royal Thai Navy will lead the operation alongside foreign divers.
Four expert cave divers will guide the boys and their coach out of the flooded cave.
Rescuers outside the cave have dug more than 100 holes and found 18 that appear promising. The deepest hole is 400m with the boys believed to be 600m below the surface.
Yesterday, Elon Musk – founder of Tesla and the tunnel-digging The Boring Company confirmed engineers had been sent to Thailand to assist in any way:
SpaceX & Boring Co engineers headed to Thailand tomorrow to see if we can be helpful to govt. There are probably many complexities that are hard to appreciate without being there in person.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2018
The Football Association of Thailand also publicly thanked FIFA for offering World Cup invitation to the boys and their coach if they were to make it out of the cave in time.
In a response posted to their Facebook page Somyot Poompanmoung, president of Thailand’s football associated, thanked FIFA for their support and love.
Our association would like to send our sincere appreciation for your concern and kindness in reaching out to us. We are truly thankful for all the sympathies and support provided by FIFA to the families of the players, their coach and every rescuer, as well as people of Thailand during this difficult period.
…should there be any suitable football-related activities to be conducted in the future, in order to give encouragement and continuous support to all people involved in this incident, our association shall liaise with FIFA.
You can read the full response, below:
Tragically, a former Thai Navy SEAL diver died from a lack of oxygen during a return trip to the cave’s entrance, yesterday. Saman Kunan had been delivering oxygen to the tunnel route.
