King praises rescue efforts for boys trapped in cave

BANGKOK, July 5 (TNA) – His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun thanked all rescuers and praised them for their search mission to find 12 boys and their soccer coach, trapped in the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai, according to Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. His Majesty the King said that the success of the search operation has been achieved due to unity, capability, dedication of all parties both Thais and foreigners. He gave his moral support for all rescuers to proceed with the next step and to accomplish in the rescue mission. Meanwhile, a senior official of the Bangkok disaster relief and prevention office, who heads the water pumping team said about the latest water situation that the flood water in the third chamber from the entrance of the cave remains high. The spot is about 1.9 kilometres from the ledge, where the boys and their coach have been stranded. If extraction attempt will be made, the boys have to dive for about 400-500 metres. He added that officials face problems in water pumping as there is not enough power to run the pumps in the third chamber, about three kilometres from the cave entrance. More electricity system is being installed there to operate 10 additional pumps. (TNA)