WATCH: Video Shows Boys And Soccer Coach Found In Thailand Cave
/ CBS Colorado
(CBS4) -- Twelve boys and their coach alive were found alive Monday, after spending more than a week trapped in a cave in Thailand. Video shows the moments after they were first discovered by British divers.
More than a week after they went missing, all 12 boys and their soccer coach were found alive in a Thailand cave complex. An international effort included British divers, who were some of the first on the scene. They assured the boys that help was on the way, and explained they had to dive to get to them .. and encouraged the boys to get to higher ground. LISTEN AND WATCH
The boys, who range in age from 11 to 16 years old and are part of the same soccer team, have been missing for nine days.
"I confirm they are all safe," Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osatanakorn told reporters on Monday night.
This comes after a massive search and rescue operation in the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai.
CHIANG RAI, THAILAND - JULY 2: Rescue workers work on the water pumping machine at the entrance of Tham Luang Nang Non cave on July 2, 2018 in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Rescuers from China and Australia have recently joined the search for 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been missing in Tham Luang Nang Non cave over a week ago after monsoon rains blocked the main entrance in northern Thailand. Divers believe they are closing in on the spot where the group could be sheltering as they continue to work their way through submerged passageways in the sprawling underground caverns and the search intensifies for the international rescue operation. (Photo by Linh Pham/Getty Images)
The boys and their coach entered the cave for an afternoon outing, only to become stranded in the dark tunnels by a sudden and continuous downpour.
A park officer first sounded the alarm after spotting the boys' bicycles near the entrance to the off-limits cave complex.
The international rescue operation -- which included the Thai Navy SEALs as well as experts from the US, China, Australia and the UK -- had been working to reach a large, deep chamber, informally named Pattaya Beach, where they believed the missing boys had taken refuge.
Osatanakornsaid the rescuers had managed to reach Pattaya Beach and found that it was also flooded. The Thai Navy SEAL divers continued a further 300 to 400 meters where they located the team.
"Our mission (is) not done yet," Osatanakorn said. "We will drain all water out from the cave then we will take all 13 people out of the cave. We are now planning how to send nurse and doctor inside the cave to check their health and movement. We will work all night."
CHIANG RAI, THAILAND - JULY 01: Rescue workers carry heavy water pumping equipments into Tham Luang Nang Non cave on July 1, 2018 in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Rescuers in northern Thailand looked for alternative ways into a flooded cave as they continued the search for 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been missing in Tham Luang Nang Non cave since Saturday night after monsoon rains blocked the main entrance. U.S. Forces and British divers joined the search as they worked their way through submerged passageways in the sprawling underground caverns as the search intensifies for the young soccer team, aged between 11 to 16, and their their 25-year-old coach. (Photo by Linh Pham/Getty Images)
The boys' parents maintained a constant vigil during the search.
Ethnic Lisu tribe people hold a ritual in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the district of Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province to appease the spirits of Tham Luang cave and the safety of the children on July 2, 2018, as the rescue operation continues for a missing children's football team and their coach. - Classmates of 12 boys trapped in a flooded Thai cave spoke of their hopes for a miracle rescue on July 2, as divers inched through thick mud and water towards an air pocket where the group is believed to be. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) (Photo credit should read LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images)
Dive teams worked around the clock.
Thai soldiers stand at the mouth of Tham Luang cave, at the Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai province on July 2, 2018, as the rescue operation continues for a missing children's football team and their coach. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP) (Photo credit should read LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images)
The cave labyrinth is popular with tourists and for the first kilometer (0.6 miles) or so inside the cavernous entrance, limestone rock formations hug high ceilings, creating an almost amphitheater-like atmosphere.
