Thai lead rescuer Kengkad Bongkawong said in a social media post on Saturday that “no one is allowed inside the cave” because “it is too risky for anyone to enter”, but water pumping operations would persist outside.
“Even though we don’t know the current condition of those two individuals, reducing the water level inside the cave is the best approach right now,” he posted on Facebook.
“There are still food rations and survival supplies that we have placed at various points inside the cave. If miracles exist, I believe their expertise will guide them out safely.”
Kengkad had earlier said rising rainwater flows had reduced the vertical space inside the cave to around 30cm – half what rescuers worked in during the operation’s earlier phases.
“From today onwards, the rain will become progressively heavier,” he warned in his Saturday post.
By Friday, key cave specialists including Finnish diver Mikko Paasi and Japan’s Yoshitaka Isaji had already left the site.
The five survivors were discovered huddled in a narrow passage around 300m from the cave’s entrance, and said the two missing men had entered the site separately.
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