this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. our headlines. officials in thailand say four boys have been rescued from a flooded cave system and have been taken to a local hospital. the boys and their football coach have been trapped in the complex cave system for more than a fortnight and were found by rescue divers earlier this week. a team of 90 divers have helped the boys through a difficult part of the route. the rescue effort has been suspended until tomorrow. hello. rescue teams in thailand say four out of the 12 boys trapped in a cave complex in the north of the country have been rescued. the boys and their coach have spent two weeks underground. a major rescue operation,

involving a team of international divers and military personnel will resume early on monday morning, local time. the complicated operation escorting each child through submerged and narrow caves didn't take as long as expected, but there will now be a gap of about ten hours as the rescue teams rest and preparations are made for the next phase. let's look back at the day's events with this report from simon jones. ambulances arrived at hospital, one of the first signs that hours into this operation the first boys have been rescued after being trapped for more than two weeks. these are rescu e rs more than two weeks. these are rescuers emerging into the darkness, the first part of their mission accomplished. this had been named d—day by the authorities, who declared the boys and their coach

we re declared the boys and their coach were ready to move amid fears of rising waters, officials decided they could wait no longer. translation: i would like to inform the public and those giving us support all along, after 16 days, todayis support all along, after 16 days, today is the day we have been waiting for, we are seeing the boys in the flesh now. the boys were said to be determined and focused, physically and mentally fit. expert divers guided them out through darkness and passageways towards the mouth of the cave. it involved a mixture of walking, wading, climbing and diving. their families mixture of walking, wading, climbing and diving. theirfamilies agreed they should be moved as soon as possible. emergency vehicles showed progress had been made. the first group out quicker than expected. the operation is overfor the group out quicker than expected. the operation is over for the day but will resume come daylight, relief the first boys have been rescued, tempered with the knowledge of the

further rescue ahead. our correspondent dan johnson, is in tham luang near the exit of the tunnel. it looks like it is raining, which is not good news. it started raining heavily in the last hour and that is something the authorities had feared all week, that is the reason why this rescue mission, this attempt to get the boys out start this morning because the fear was if really heavy rain persisted it could raise the water level and put the boys at risk which is why the authorities thought today was the prime opportunity. they spent time with the boys trying to teach them about the technique is scuba—diving and to make them familiar with equipment they would need to wear to make it out alive which is why this morning they were confident to make a start and four boys have successfully navigated that path out. they had to navigate through dark, narrow channels. one diver, who has experienced

conditions of the cave, saying there are conditions of the cave, saying there a re parts of conditions of the cave, saying there are parts of the journey that i like being flushed through the u bend of the toilet because it is narrow, winding around obstructions, sometimes the tide brushing against the boys said they surmounted tough challenges to get out but the operation has stopped this evening, although there are still vehicles coming and going, because there is a need to supply more equipment, change teams over, the support team will be here all night and tomorrow morning they will restart in earnest the mission to free the remaining nine, the eight boys and their coach. everyone knows although there has been success, there is a lot of risk, danger in this operation and a huge challenge still to accomplish to make sure everyone gets out safely. we understand we have a ten hour break, does it imply they are using the exact same diving team for the next stage? yes we understand it

isa the next stage? yes we understand it is a relatively small team of really experienced divers who have come from around the world, 18 of them, 13 international experts working with five of the elite thai navy divers who have been responsible for trading the boys and assessing if they were ready, whether they have they were ready, whether they have the ability and strength to make it out alive. they decided which boys would go first and decided to take the weakest, the ones they thought needed to get out first. they have done that today, escorting the boys ona done that today, escorting the boys on a journey that took about nine hours for them to get out of the cave, but everyone is aware of how complicated this is and it needs ca re complicated this is and it needs care and attention so the dive team is off having rest, some sleep, regaining energy ready to come back tomorrow, focused and ready to apply that expertise to make sure the remaining boys and their coach can be escorted out as quickly as

possible and as safely as possible, because there is danger and uncertainty in this rescue attempt. before we let you get out of the rain, while the team have a break, does it mean pumping operations will continue? they have been pumping water almost continuously since the saga started more than two weeks ago. just to keep the water level in the cave stable they have had to pump millions of litres a day and that continues and i think some of the equipment going injust may that continues and i think some of the equipment going in just may have been more generators and pumps, because they have to keep turning over the equipment to make sure there is power to keep it running and there is a torrent of water running down from the cave where they have pumped out the last two weeks and they had to start digging a reservoir to take the water so it does not cause problems elsewhere. it never seemed realistic they could trade enough water outside the boys could walk out. early there was talk

of waiting, sitting it out, but it could have taken months for the level to go down and in the meantime the risk of more rain and forcing the risk of more rain and forcing the water level up. there was an option of drilling down and they did ta ke option of drilling down and they did take explorer tree holes to find the shortest distance but they worked out it was 600 metres at least and the nature of the mountainous environment, tough, steep terrain with thick vegetation. the option of drilling was explored but looks like it would take a long time. that is why the scu ba—diving it would take a long time. that is why the scuba—diving option, the boys swimming out the way they walked in two weeks ago, was favoured and has been put into action today and having proven it can work, that is what they will carry on doing tomorrow and everyone determines the rest of the group will succeed so everyone can celebrate when 13 people are safely out. dan johnson, thank you. nick beakers at the hospital where

the boys were taken. they were waiting for good news and waiting for patients to arrive. to do half hours ago the medical teams at the hospital, the main hospital in the chiang rai region received the first of their patients, and we saw two ambulances come up, they moved aside the railings and sped through to the entrance. we heard two ambulances overhead and we believe two other boys were brought. they have been assessing their health, there was a doctor in the cave with them, after they were found by the amateur british divers and they assessed their condition day by day and we heard this morning the decision had been made to go for this rescue attempt. they believed the boys were

strong enough mentally and crucially physically. in terms of how they are doing now, it is hard to assess. nothing official from the doctors and nurses but the indications we are getting is they are doing well considering what happened to them. a huge ordeal. when you think of the path they had to take to get out of the cave, extremely narrow in places, visibility extremely difficult, impossible to see things in front of you, the fact four boys are out this evening has given people a lot of hope in thailand. the hospital and authorities have been keen to look after the privacy of the families and the boys. there was screening and security present outside the hospital. has it died down? there are fewer members of the media now and that is a result of the press conference an hour ago when they said there would be no

more operations, hello in the rescue effort, because of course, these are specialists, it is a small core of people with the skills to get the place where the boys are trapped so they need to rest overnight. we do not know what is going on inside the hospital now. the parents have been at the rescue site the past two weeks, and they have been kept up—to—date with information and if they are here tonight, they would have been told before anyone else what is happening. it was interesting, we heard from a source earlier that they have managed to have pa rt of earlier that they have managed to have part of the hospital sealed off so have part of the hospital sealed off so the boys can be brought in, treated and undergo routine examinations such as blood tests. looking to see if they had picked up an infection due to being in the water that is dirty. we may get more information about their condition overnight or possibly the morning, but this is an ongoing operation

that will take hours. it takes the most experienced divers some 11 hours to get to the point to where the boys were and back again so it isa the boys were and back again so it is a marathon operation. thank you. nick was outside the local hospital where the boys have been taken. we can speak to reuters bangkok deputy bureau chief. one of the biggest stories possibly that thailand has had to deal with? yes certainly one of the biggest stories in years for thailand and a good news story so far, definitely a story that has brought the country together, country that has been divided politically many years, so a big story, but also a good one. have you in your memory, can you remember a story that has involved this level

of rescue and cooperation internationally and also there has been a lot of military involvement in this operation? i do not think we have seen anything on this scale for... in recent thai history, really. it has been a huge operation with 1000 plus thai volunteers and teams flying in from all over the world including australia, the us andjapan. world including australia, the us and japan. the level of coordination has been something that is truly amazing. we have heard international teams commend the thais for their effort and vice versa. i do not think the country has seen anything like this before. what have the local press been saying and covering the story? coverage has been blanket coverage, nonstop. when you go into the streets, in the capital bangkok

or elsewhere, pretty much everyone in thailand is talking about these boys. they have been talking about these boys since they were first trapped. and when the british divers found the boys last monday, which was news met with a huge positive reaction, an avalanche of goodwill on social media. it has brought thais together at this time. how big is the sport of caving in the country? it is fairly popular in parts of the country. it is definitely not a national level sport. not something many people do. cycling is perhaps one of the biggest sports in thailand. these boys who went in were not expert cavers. they had been in the cave in the dry season but this is the first

time they had gone in in the rainy season so time they had gone in in the rainy season so they were not experts by any stretch. rescue operations we understand resume 8am local time where you are? yes. the chief of mission says in about ten hours, nine hours from now the rescue mission will start again to get the remaining boys and coach out and we hope to see more progress tomorrow, if the weather stays on their side. it has to be said that the parents have come across as being quite calm in this. is this just within the thai character, have they been more vocal and we have not heard this?” think it is many factors. throughout this operation we have seen the family, according to one side, they

have had their own tent, shelter, and throughout... for most part they have had several buddhist monks leading prayers, meditation and chanting. i think it has helped the pa rents, chanting. i think it has helped the parents, helped to keep them calm, grounded, and they have been praying the good news and found it came, that their boys were found, so it is a huge part of the calmness we have seen. thank you. you're watching bbc news. let's get more run the story from the world of cave diving. geoff crossley is a cave diving instructor who was one of the divers who rescued les hewitt from a yorkshire cave in 1992. hejoins us now live from cumbria. thank you forjoining us. watching events taking place in thailand.

what is this doing to you when you think about what happened in cumbria? it is the same range of emotions. your correspondents have put it very well. it is wonderful news, but it is not over yet and you have got to be cautiously optimistic that when they go back into resumed the operation, that things will continue to go well. in terms of conditions, are they similar around the world when you get inside a cave, or are they different? they are different in different countries. i would say that from what i am hearing from the thai operation, they are similar to british conditions in that you get bad visibility, and there are small as well. the one good thing about the conditions over there is it is warm. it would not be warm over here. that has been a big positives in helping to get the boys out. you rescued les hewitt in 1992. the team

in thailand are having to rescue children. what would be your primary concern if you were part of that time? i think it was a big team effort to rescue les hewitt and the other caver, roy dean, at the time. with children, your correspondent said it already, it is prioritising who is the weakest, who needs to go out first, who is confident, who are the most confident boys. it would be a case of putting them in the water, with the equipment attached to them, and giving them a trial run, not under the flooded part of the cave, but in the water where they are. i think they will have worked that out and split them into groups to decide who was going to be the best to take out first, and carry on from there. it appears that is what the cases.

they have suspended operations. it isa they have suspended operations. it is a very stressful experience. searching for missing persons in a flooded cave is stressful. when you find them, after the initial euphoria, you realise that they are not rescued until they are all out. i would say that they obviously have a plan, they are sticking to that plan, and they will resume again tomorrow, and hopefully it will continue to be successful. as a rescuer, what goes through your mind, what pressures are you under? you have also got to think about your own safety, to be honest. as i have just your own safety, to be honest. as i havejust said, it your own safety, to be honest. as i have just said, it is a very stressful time when you're trying to get somebody out, and you're trying to be positive all the time, but you know there are serious dangers. i think it is very much a case of

focusing on your own safety as well, but remaining very positive for the casualty, to give them the confidence to get out. what sort of warning signs are you looking for? we know that the weakest boys were taken out first, but does that not increase the risk? what held signs are you keeping your eyes out for? that is difficult to say for me. i would be speculating regarding health signs. from my experience on the rest is i have been involved with, we would try and maintain visual contact, eye contact, by swimming backwards with the ones we have brought out, two divers for each casualty, looking at the eyes, keeping them focused but watching for signs of panic rather than medical issues. i think the water is quite shallow, so that is a good

thing. if the water is very deep, it becomes more of an issue. but it had pressured if you're trying to keep eye co nta ct pressured if you're trying to keep eye contact with somebody you're trying to rescue and you're trying to move forwards, but you are having to move forwards, but you are having to constantly looked back to keep a eye co nta ct? to constantly looked back to keep a eye contact? we are hearing that these passages are so narrow. yes, there are sections that are narrowing most cave passages. certainly that is one of the issues when you get to a narrow part. sometimes there is no alternative but to put the casualty through the narrow pa rt but to put the casualty through the narrow part without the guidance. your presence can be there, but maybe the physical contact or the eye co nta ct maybe the physical contact or the eye contact might have to be removed for a few seconds. how do you keep a casualty composed, how do you camp them down if you are seeing signs of panic, what would you do? -- calm

them down. you would keep hold of them down. you would keep hold of them ended sure you have that physical contact, reassuring them all the time. you are also reassuring them by eye contact, making sure they understand that everything is ok, they are doing well, and hopefully they will respond to that in kind. we are dealing with children. would you have to pull them along in order to encourage them? there may be that fear of water because we understand these children cannot swim.” fear of water because we understand these children cannot swim. i do not think the swimming issue is too much ofa think the swimming issue is too much of a problem, because once you get into a flooded passage, the best place to be is on the floor, or thereabouts in this sort of situation. they are probably waited suitably so they are down on the floor and literally crawling along

the floor to get out. children, with these boys, i think we have seen from the temperament and the way they have conducted themselves, it has been amazing considering they have been trapped in the cave for so long. they might well see it as an adventure and hopefully that is how they will see it, i challenge, and clearly they are up for a challenge by the fact they have gone into these caves. hopefully they will have the confidence that is required. how would you encourage a child, what sort of communication methodology would you sort out before you went into the water, tapping, if you're worried, if you are beginning to panic, how would you communicate with the child? you cannot really communicate underwater, apart from visual signals. you cannot talk to each other without specialised equipment,

and you would not be equipping people who are not divers with that sort of equipment. you have to get them as composed as possible before you start the dive and once the divers under way, it is maintaining that physical and visual presence of the know someone is with them at all times. since they, we will call it a successful operation, of the four boys that have exited, lots of tributes have been paid to the diver that lost his life earlier this week, saman cuman, who lost consciousness. how would you know if a child was losing consciousness? there would be no response or they would stop moving if they were losing consciousness. you would have to speed things up to try and get them out. there are two speeds in cave diving, dead slow and stop. this will be a meticulous operation but if someone is losing consciousness you will have to do

something about it. if visibility is very bad, one of the enemies in cave diving, if visibility is bad, that might not be apparent. you have got to keep an eye out for it all the time. i would say at this point, with the thai divers, they have done a fantasticjob, considering it is not their remit. they are not trained cave diver so it is wonderful what they have done, the way they have supported the operation at the sharp end. in terms of the equipment that the rescue tea m of the equipment that the rescue team and the children would be winning, date is the risk that that they get damaged, and also the air line that is attached to the diver. how do you make sure that does not happen? i do not know what plan they have put into place over the air regarding who wears the diving equipment or the air cylinder, where the disease two hose is going. i can

only relate to our example, which is that the casualty were the air cylinder with the hose, and this was pa rt cylinder with the hose, and this was part of being accompanied by two divers. the first one was perhaps swimming backwards to a certain extent, keeping the vessel and physical contact, feeding the gary glen to the casualty. —— visual and physical. the diver behind was making sure that the line did not catch on ra pa nt making sure that the line did not catch on rapant diction —— drop projections are get tangled on the equipment which could stop the operation completely. why is the ten hour rest period needed, what are they doing in that time? they have been working flat out, that is fairly obvious. i cannot emphasise how stressful it will be for them, especially bearing in mind that most of the divers will not speak thai so they will constantly have to have

language translations fed to them. they just need rest language translations fed to them. theyjust need rest and recuperation, but it is a good thing that the same time sticks together, because if the plan is working, do not change it. that is what they have decided to do. thank you so much for chatting to us on bbc news. thank you. you're welcome. thanks. you're watching bbc news. let's remind you of breaking story today. four of the 12 boys trapped in a flooded cave in thailand have been brought out. a major operation involving international divers and elite members of the thai navy has been taking place to free the 12 boys and their football coach. they became stranded over a fortnight ago when the tunnels became waterlogged

with rain. british divers were called on and they help to find a group sheltering on a rocky ledge around 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave on monday. that vast cave network stretches ten kilometres into the mountain. the flooded panel is one mile underwater. the first boy was brought out of the cave at around midday our time. all of the four rescued boys are now being treated in hospital. rescue efforts have stopped overnight to allow divers to prepare for the next mission. meanwhile, the rain that the rescue team had been dreading appears to have arrived. it is monsoon season. let's speak to andy eavis, the former head of the british caving association. he joins us from hull. you have been

following the story and speaking to us on bbc news. this latest development, four boys out, what is your response? euphoria. it is wonderful that they have got four out safely. it suggests, with a great deal of luck and not too much rain that they can get the other nine out. fingers crossed. the great moment last week was actually getting through and finding the boys, and finding all 13 of them alive. that was a wonderful moment. the second wonderful moment was getting the first of them out in ta ct getting the first of them out in tact and looking pretty good. in between, unfortunately, there was this dreadful disaster of the thai diver diving. itjust underlines the danger varies with this type of operation. —— diver dying. cave

divers realise this situation and they will be very careful and composed, and you were asking earlier what they will be doing in this period, they will be resting andi this period, they will be resting and i hope they can get as much rest as they possibly can, to enable them to go back in and perform their operation, both safely for themselves and the people they are rescuing. is a ten hour period and off to relieve the stress that the human body is put under when it comes to diving? i know it is not deep water diving but incredible stresses are being placed on the divers? i suppose one could say it is not really enough but there is an element of urgency i think. i do not know what difference the rain will make but i suspect a significant difference in making it longer underwater so the underwater

passages will become longer, the flooded sections will be longer and the airspace shorter. if it is pouring with rain, the sooner they get back in and get the rest out, the better. i do not think there is a danger, and immediate danger, of them flooding out where they are and it going to the roof and giving them a life—threatening problem, but it will certainly, the rain, make the rescuing more difficult. i know they will think the sooner the better, but they need to rest, so it is balancing the two. how fit are these chaps, andi balancing the two. how fit are these chaps, and i assume they are all men? i am sorry, i cannot hear you well. how fit are these divers? the divers are very fit. they are