Thai cave rescuers racing against water, time to free boys

A rescue mission for a young Thai soccer team and their coach trapped for two weeks in a flooded cave is at "war with water and time", its leader said on Saturday, but was eyeing its best chance yet to free the group before expected heavy rains.

The message of hope came a day after the death of a Thai rescue diver, a grim turn in what began two weeks ago as a celebration of one of the boys' birthdays at the Tham Luang cave complex in the northern province of Chiang Rai.

A team of Thai Navy SEALS, soldiers, police and volunteers has been working frantically to drain the cave since the group was discovered on Monday.

They are now teaching the children, aged between 11 and 16 and not all of whom are strong swimmers, to attempt a treacherous dive through narrow, submerged tunnels.

"The next three to four days from now is the best and most ideal time for the rescue operation," Narongsak Osottanakorn, the rescue mission chief and former provincial governor, told reporters.

In another development on Saturday, authorities confirmed the boys had communicated by letter with their relatives, many camped outside the cave's entrance, for the first time since they were found.

An attempt to pass a phone to the boys earlier in the week failed.

In one letter, the boys list the foods they want to eat once safely home, such as fried chicken and "hot pan barbecue" and beg their teachers not to assign too much homework.

The coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, told parents in a separate letter that he would "take the very best care" of the boys and apologized for putting them through their ordeal.

Ivan Katadzic, a Danish diving instructor who has been ferrying oxygen tanks into the cave, said after a dive on Friday he was "double positive" about the mission because the water level had dropped considerably.

Alternative rescue plans include stocking the cave with supplies and an oxygen line to keep the boys alive for months until Thailand's monsoon season ends, or drilling a shaft down from the forest above.

Narongsak said the drills would have to pierce 600 meters (1,970 feet) of fragile limestone rock to reach the boys and rescuers were discussing drilling angles.

Besides looking for possible holes from above, the team on the hill above is trying to block holes and divert streams that channel water into the cave before the weather turns.

SS