Thailand Cave Rescue From Ground Zero: Eight boys out of 13 evacuated safely; operation for the day ends

On day two of the high-risk Thailand cave rescue mission, cave divers on Monday resumed their operation to evacuate the remaining eight boys and their football coach trapped in Tham Luang caves for over two weeks.

Earlier on Sunday, four of the 12 trapped boys and their coach were brought safely out of the cave by a team of 90 divers, 50 of them foreigners, after 7-hour long rescue operation.

The rescue mission was halted overnight to replace the oxygen tanks used in the operation.

Here are the LIVE updates on Thailand Cave Rescue:

# 06:00 PM: The second phase of Thailand cave operation has been concluded for the day, the source added. Four boys and their coach still remain inside the cave and will be pulled out of the cave during the third leg of the operation.

#ThaiCaveRescue 8 boys rescued from Thai cave, operations stopped for the day. 4 boys and coach still to be brought out. @NewsNationTV

— Peenaz Tyagi (@Peenaz_NN) July 9, 2018

# 05:50 PM: According to sources, eight boys out of the thirteen Thai footballers are now outside the cave. The last rescued boy has reportedly been sent to the medical team for a checkup.

Thai cave rescue: eight boys now freed as mission to save others continues #ThaiCaveRescue #thamluangcaverescue #ThaiNavySEAL @NewsNationTV

— Peenaz Tyagi (@Peenaz_NN) July 9, 2018

# 05:30 PM: The seventh boy has been pulled out of the cave complex in northern Thailand on Monday. Five boys and their soccer coach still remain inside the cave.

# 05:13 PM: The sixth boy has been rescued from the flooded cave of Chiang Rai. He is a student of Mae Sai Prasitsart School and will be given psychological support after he will return.

#05:03 PM: Fifth boy rescued during the second phase of operation reaches the hospital.

# 04:43 PM: At about 4:30 pm local time, the fifth boy was rescued from the cave and was seen taken away on a stretcher to the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital.

# 10:30 AM: The team of Thai and international divers are on standby outside the cave and will rescue those boys first who are weakest.

After days of planning, the highly hazardous operation to extract the boys and their coach, who have been trapped in the cave since June 23, started on Sunday amid fears of rising water level due to rains.

Meanwhile, News Nation reached the ground zero to cover the world's toughest rescue operation. Our team were at the spot near Tham Luang caves and will provide you minute by minute updates on the rescue mission throughout the day.

According to Thailand officials, the first and second stage of the mission ran "smoothly" and the rescued boys were in "good health".

“The rescue effort is likely to take two to three days to complete as it "depends on other factors like the weather," local media quoted Major General Chalongchai Chaiyakorn, an army commander, as saying.

However, the rescuers will have to face major challenges in the upcoming stages. They will have to work quickly to evacuate those still trapped after heavy rainfall on Sunday and more forecast for the coming days.