Rescuers raced to pump water from a cave in northern Thailand as forecasted heavy rain threatened to complicate efforts to free a young soccer team found trapped for 10 days, an ordeal officials warned they may have to bear longer. Now that the missing Thai soccer team has been found, the next step is determining how to get the boys and coach safely out of the partly flooded cave in northern Thailand. (AP Photo)
Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province stretches under a mountainside for up to 10 kilometers (6 miles), much of it a string of narrow passageways that lead to wide chambers and then back to narrow passageways. (AP Photo)
Rescuers found their bicycles, football boots and backpack near the cave's opening, and spotted handprints and footprint further in -- leading them to the spot they were eventually found. (AP Photo)
Finding the boys took more than nine days, partly because of how difficult it is to move around the cave. (AP Photo)
The cave floods during Thailand's rainy season and even elite Thai navy SEAL divers were finding it difficult to move through the muddy waters, currents and tight passageways. (Image: Reuters)
Tham Luang cave is one of Thailand's longest, winding 10 kilometres (six miles) and is also one of the toughest to navigate -- especially in the wet months. (AP Photo)
Thai authorities say they are committed to "100 percent safety" when they consider how to extract the boys, who don't appear to be in urgent need of medical evacuation. (Image: Reuters)
To supply them in safest place could take anywhere from days to weeks to even months as the rainy season typically lasts through October. (AP Photo)
More monsoon rains are on the way. After a break in the weather in recent days, the Thai Meteorological Department forecast for Chiang Rai calls for light rain through Friday followed by heavy rain starting Saturday and continuing through July 10. (AP Photo)
Along with the search efforts inside the cave, rescuers have searched on the mountainside for possible ways into the caverns below. (AP Photo)
Backhoes and drilling equipment were sent to the mountain, but creating a shaft large enough to extract the boys would be extremely complicated and could take a long time. (Image: Reuters)
Diving would be the fastest, but arguably most dangerous, extraction method. (AP Photo)
Experts in caving and diving needed days to reach the boys. Getting the boys out could go faster due to the installation of dive lines, extra oxygen tanks left along the way and glow sticks lighting the path. (AP Photo)
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha cooks at a mobile kitchen for volunteers and rescue workers near the Tham Luang cave complex during an ongoing search for members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand. (Image: Reuters)
Map locating the Tham Luang Caves in Thailand.
