Teenage football players who have been trapped in a cave in northern Thailand are being taught how to dive by rescuers as part of preparations to end their harrowing ordeal.

Rescuers found the 12-member teenage football team and their coach after nine days trapped inside Tham Luang cave (Photo: CNN)

Deputy Prime Minster Prawit Wongsuwan said that the waters inside the cave are very strong and space is narrow. As soon as water levels fall and the current calms down, the boys will be retrieved quickly.

Governor of Chiang Rai province Narongsak Osatanakorn stressed that the authorities are keen to get the boys out as soon as possible; however, ensuring their safety was of utmost importance.

The province’s authorities said on 2 July that rescuers found the 12-member teenage football team and their coach who were all alive after nine days trapped inside Tham Luang cave.

Thai military has supplied food and water for the boys during their captivity, during which they are being given diving lesson. The focus is now on monitoring water levels, rain forecasts, and extraction procedures.

The boys – members of the Wild Boars football team between the ages 11 and 16 – had been exploring the cave network with their soccer coach on 23 June, when heavy seasonal rains flooded the cave's entrance, forcing the group further and further into the labyrinth of tunnels in search of higher ground.

Located in the Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park, Tham Luang cave is an adventure tourism destination in Thailand. It is often closed during the rainy season from July to December. Visitors are allowed to enter a maximum depth of 700m deep into the cave.

(Source: VNA)