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Thai boys and their soccer coach have been rescued from cave complex

All 12 “Wild Boars” and their soccer coach have made it to safety after an 18-day ordeal.

Contributors: Vox Staff

The rescue mission to save 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach who’ve been trapped in a cave in northern Thailand has ended successfully.

The soccer team, known as the Wild Boars, had been missing since June 23, when heavy monsoon rains flooded the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system they had been exploring and trapped them in a chamber some 2.5 miles from the cave’s mouth.

After more than two weeks of search and rescue operations, staged by a team of expert divers and Thailand’s Navy SEALs, all 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach have been rescued from the cave.

The rescue wasn’t without complication though: A former Thai Navy SEAL, 38-year-old Saman Gunan, died while trying to reach the group with oxygen.

14 Total Updates Since
Jul 6, 2018, 12:30pm EDT
  • July 25, 2018

    How Buddhist meditation kept the Thai boys calm in the cave

    By Eliza Barclay

    The boys’ coach lived in a Buddhist monastery for a decade and taught them to meditate in the cave.

  • July 19, 2018

    The rescue of the 12 Thai boys who were trapped in a cave, explained

    By Radhika Viswanathan

    All of the boys and their coach were brought out of the cave on stretchers in an extraordinary mission.

  • July 18, 2018

    Thai boys speak publicly for the first time: “This experience taught me to be more patient”

    By Radhika Viswanathan

    The 12 Thai boys who were trapped in a cave are out of the hospital and have begun to share details of their experience.

  • July 15, 2018

    Elon Musk just called one of the Thai cave rescuers a pedophile

    By Emily Stewart

    Last week, the Tesla CEO said he was going to be better on Twitter. Spoiler alert: He’s not.

  • July 14, 2018

    Competing movies about the Thai cave rescue are already in the works

    By Alissa Wilkinson

    The two productions raise issues of whitewashing and the complexity of getting rights to the story.

  • July 12, 2018

    “This is madness”: A rescue diver on what it was like to save the Thai boys in the cave

    By Radhika Viswanathan

    The divers searching for the boys almost gave up. Then, they had a near-perfect rescue mission.

  • July 11, 2018

    “Empathetic hedonism”: why we were so glued to the Thai cave drama

    By Brian Resnick

    Is it okay to make a spectacle out of trauma?

  • July 11, 2018

    Video: Thai boys didn’t swim out of the cave; they were rescued on stretchers

    By Radhika Viswanathan

    New information suggests the 12 Thai boys trapped in a cave were medicated and carried out on stretchers during the rescue operation.

  • July 11, 2018

    Elon Musk’s plan to bring a mini-submarine to rescue the Thai boys

    By Radhika Viswanathan

    Musk tried to join the rescue efforts by building a sub. It wasn’t used, so he left it in Thailand.

  • July 11, 2018

    How the 12 Thai boys were finally rescued

    By Radhika Viswanathan

    Paired with pro divers, the boys were medicated and guided through narrow passageways with near-zero visibility on stretchers.

  • July 10, 2018

    The Thai boys cave rescue: what we know

    By Emily Stewart

    All 12 boys and their coach had been rescued as of Tuesday morning.

  • July 7, 2018

    The 4 risky options to rescue the Thai boys trapped in a cave, explained

    By Radhika Viswanathan and Eliza Barclay

    The boys may have to swim out of the cave, accompanied by a "buddy" expert diver.

  • July 6, 2018

    Why the trapped Thai soccer team is in increasing trouble: they’re running out of oxygen

    By Brian Resnick

    A critical care pediatrician explains the medical danger the boys are in.

  • July 6, 2018

    Elon Musk: let’s build an “air tunnel underwater” to save the Thai boys in the cave

    By Radhika Viswanathan

    Musk says SpaceX and Boring Company can help rescue the Thai soccer team.