Rescue of 12 soccer players and their mentor trapped in Thailand’s water pipes successful

Thai soldiers drag water pipes that will help sidestep water from entering a cave where 12 young men and their soccer mentor have been trapped since June 23, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand Saturday, July 7, 2018. Thai authorities are hustling to draw out water from the flooded cave before more rains are forecast to hit the northern region.

The Latest on the rescue of 12 young men and their soccer mentor from a cave in northern Thailand

Australia’s foreign minister says 19 Australian personnel are involved in the Thailand cave rescue operation including a specialist who’s played an essential part in assessing which young men can leave and in what order.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters in Australia that anaesthetist and experienced cave diver Richard Harris is working with the Thai medical team inside the cave “to make the decisions about the order in which the boys were to be extracted.”

Expert divers Sunday rescued four of 12 young men from a flooded cave in northern Thailand where they were trapped with their soccer mentor for more than two weeks. Crews should replenish air tanks along the route before rescuing the others.

Thailand’s interior minister says the same divers who partook in Sunday’s rescue of four young men trapped in a flooded cave will likewise lead the next operation as they probably am aware the cave conditions and what to do.

Thai authorities have asked media to leave the area around the entrance of the cave where 12 young men and their soccer mentor have been trapped for two weeks, fuelling speculation that a rescue mission could be imminent.

Dozens of divers have arrived at the cave on Sunday morning.