Oparetion

The first four boys to be freed were reunited with their parents on Monday night through a glass window. Public health officials would decide on Tuesday whether the second batch could see their families.

“[The parents] visited them through a window due to disease control,” Osatanakorn said. “If the lab results are negative – no infection or any disease – they can visit but they have to wear [medical] gown, face mask and hair cap.”

He said they would need to keep at least 2 metres away from their boys for at least 48 hours, until “we are sure there is no infection, then they can visit them normally”. No boys would be discharged for at least seven days.

Jesada Chokedamrongsuk, a physician from the Thai ministry of public health, told a separate press conference at the Chiang Rai hospital that the eight patients were cheerful.

Two boys among the first group to be freed, who he said were aged between 14 and 16, had shown possible signs of pneumonia and all had low temperatures when they arrived on Monday night.

“Now they have no fever and can do their normal activities,” Chokedamrongsuk said. “They can have normal food but we are making sure it is easily digestible, not spicy or too strongly flavoured.”

The boys had asked for chocolate spread on bread, which the hospital had provided, he said. They were still wearing sunglasses as a precaution while their eyes adjusted to the light, he added.

“For the second lot of patients arriving last night, whose ages range from 12 to 14, they arrived with very low body temperature, and one of them had a low heart rate,” he said.

“Doctors have treated the boys and now all of them are OK and cheerful. They talk normally. No fever. We’ve started giving them ‘medical food’ this morning.”

He said the second group of four boys would undergo detailed testing of their eyes, nutrition levels and mental health, with blood samples to be sent to Bangkok to test for any infectious diseases.

“All of them have an increase in white cells in the blood, which indicates infections, so we have given them antibiotics as a precaution,” Chokedamrongsuk said.

Apart from the coach, the age ranges given by the doctor indicate that the youngest boy in the group – 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungrueng – is still in the cave.

Thai cave rescue
Overnight, the entrepreneur Elon Musk posted on social media that he had personally delivered a child-sized submarine to the site which he has developed to assist with the operation, but it is unlikely to play a role.

“Although his technology is good and sophisticated, it’s not practical for this mission,” Osatanakorn said after the press conference.

Osatanakorn announced the start of the latest rescue mission to applause and cheers in the local government courtyard that has become a centre for Thai volunteers and the world’s media.

The mood was in stark contrast to the glum atmosphere at the site last week, especially after the announcement of the death on Friday of the former Thai navy Seal Saman Kunan, who died while placing air tanks in the cave.

The Seals, the key force in the operation, posted on their official Facebook page that Tuesday would be a longer day than Monday. “But we’ll look forward to celebrating the success. Hooyah.”

Additional reporting by Jacob Goldberg and Veena Thoopkrajae
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