In a muddy clearing at the foot of Nang Non mountain, soldiers, medics and rescue workers chattered over the hum of generators and falling water, hoping for the next piece of good news. Hours before, 12 Thai schoolboys between the ages of 11 and 16 and their 25-year-old football coach were found alive by divers in the nearby cave known as Tham Luang Nang Non, which flooded while they were exploring it on 23 June.

In an instant, an anxious nine-day search operation transformed into a rescue mission, but those spending their days at the rescue camp say they never lost hope that the missing children would be returned to safety. “One thing I’d like to note about the mood in this camp is that we’ve all been in here as a family, working together, and I never sensed anyone being demotivated. In fact, I sensed a strong hope,” said US Air Force Captain Jessica Tait, a member of a unit of divers, medics, and survival specialists sent to the rescue site last week at the request of the Thai government.

“When we found out the good news, it felt like it was out of a movie. I get chills when I think about that moment and being able to work hard and have such a positive outcome, because you don’t always get that,” she said.(theguardian)...[+]