Why couldn’t the professional divers carry this stuff for the kids on these in-between areas?
This graphic shows a simple cross section of the exit route that gives some idea of the extent of flooding.
Elon Musk is jumping in with suggestions.
They are reportedly going to begin attempting rescue operations this evening, which I guess means now (it’s currently 10:40 pm local time). They plan to bring the kids out in groups of two.
From a Belgian diver who has been assisting with operations:
Here’s the Guardian link to what TroutMan just posted.
He’s got some good ideas. The nylon tube sounds promising. But the rains start again within a day or two. Time may have run out for any tech solution…
They’re still trying hard to find alternate ways in. But, the clock is running down.
And now the latest update is there will be no attempt “today”.
Sounds like decisions are being made hour by hour based on conditions. That is a scary position to be in.
It makes sense to wait as long as possible, so that they can do as much preparation as possible. Every day they can postpone the rescue attempt means a better chance of succeeding. When the rains come, they may be forced to make a rescue attempt immediately.
The problem is that a rescue can’t be immediate. They expect heavy rains Sunday, which is a day from now local time. Another report said they have the capacity to bring out four boys per day. If that’s true, it’s a minimum of three days to rescue them all from the time they start.
I worry about the professional divers safety.
I remember my lifeguard training. We were taught to avoid directly approaching a drowning victim. If possible, reach out with a pole or any suitable object. Even a beach towel gives you some distance.
If you do have to approach, be prepared to fight them off. A panicked swimmer is very dangerous. They’ll try to climb on top of you to reach the surface. A lifeguard can easily drown in these situations. I got certified but decided against taking a job.
Some of these kids are going panic during the rescue. The conditions are so claustrophobic that almost anybody will have troble staying calm.
The professional divers will have their handsful escorting these kids out.
With the electric cables being put into the water, wonder if that runs an electrocution risk if something scrapes the insulation open or an open end is left sparking in the water?
There’s a model of the caves showing the flooded parts in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=887IiOyBlag , at about 1’25"
This whole thing is fraught with about 87 different dangers. Taking kids who can’t swim and have never SCUBA’d in their life through a narrow cave dive sounds like a recipe for disaster, but if the air is running out or the water level starts rising, I guess you try that Hail Mary play.
Where did you hear they were running electric cables? I heard they were trying to pull an air hose and a fiber-optic cable for communications.
Yes, that’s what’s really scary to me. There doesn’t seem to be any way this can succeed, but the alternative is just that dire.
If they can pump in enough oxygen and scrub enough CO2, maybe they could keep the kids there indefinitely at least as far as breathing air goes, but the flooding is still the danger.
A cave diver on the scene says they routinely dive and explore caves. He says this isn’t a cave they would dive.
He’s been inside and is part of the rescue effort.
Skip to 5:10. He’s very frank about the conditions in that cave.
This is not meant to impugn anyone. Honest. To be in charge of the cave rescue means to constantly have to countenance that the decisions you make are highly likely to lead to the deaths of some children.
That said:
I wonder if there’s not some paralysis-by-analysis going on. Everything is being thought through, analyzed, researched, thought through again. That one “magical” safe solution that gets everyone out alive is actively being sought … but it could be sinking in that there is no such solution to be found. And does taking additional time to find such a solution put the kids in more danger than if they try throwing the Hail Mary now?
Positively gut-wrenching.
Yes, this is common in management or anywhere else. You pick Option A, you get blamed for all the deaths or consequences of Option A. Whereas those who propose Option B, C, and D get off scot-free, even though their plans are equally dangerous or risky, because their plans didn’t actually get put into action. The punishment of the actual vs. the hypothetical.