
Twelve Thai boys and their football coach who were trapped in a flooded cave and lost for nine days may be stuck there for months before they can be rescued.

The 'rake thin' schoolboys, who were found starving but unhurt by British volunteer divers John Volanthen and Rick Stanton on Monday, may have to survive in the cave until October when water levels subside at the end of monsoon season.

Cave experts say it would be 'unbelievably dangerous' to try to get the boys out while the waters are still high with more heavy rains expected over the next few days.

Authorities are now considering teaching the boys - none of whom can swim - how to dive so they can be guided out of the Thamg Luang cave network in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand.

In the meantime, two Navy SEAL doctors have agreed to stay with the group as rescuers send them food to last four months.

Rescue workers line up near Tham Luang cave complex on Tuesday as the operation to provide the boys with food and water continues

Two Thai rescuers were among those who dived to get provisions to the boys. Two Navy SEAL doctors have agreed to stay with the group as rescuers send them food to last four months

Fierce waters: A Thai rescuer walks near where water is pumped from the flooded cave after all 12 boys and their soccer coach were found alive

Rescuers are sent inside Tham Luang Nang Non cave network as rains continue to stream down raising fears the boys will be trapped for a long while

A Thai rescuer prepares oxygen tanks for diving after the 12 boys and their soccer coach were found alive in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province

The footballers - who are unharmed apart from two with 'light injuries' - have been given energy gels and paracetamol while a phone cable is being installed so they can speak to their shattered parents.

Teams have been pumping 10,000 litres of water out of the caves every hour - but this is only enough to lower the level by one centimeter.

'We will prepare to send additional food to be sustained for at least four months and train all 13 to dive while continuing to drain the water,' Thai Navy Captain Anand Surawan said on Tuesday.

Ben Reymenants, a Belgian diver who is part of the team supporting the rescue mission, said the boys could be cut off if the expected rains are severe.

'Time is not on our side - we're expecting heavy rain in three days', he told BBC Newsnight on Monday. 'If the cave system (floods) it would make access impossible to the kids.'

Public anticipation for the rescue has been high since Sunday, but officials avoided setting a timetable for the search and rescue operation. Pictured: Divers in the cave network where the boys are stuck

Rescue attempt: Rescuers have been pumping 10,000 litres of water every hour - but this is only enough to decrease levels by one centimetre every hour and heavy rains will come again tomorrow

Thai Navy seals have found all 12 boys and their football team coach alive after nine days of desperate searching in Thai caves

This photograph of some of the boys smiling was released by a parent after hearing the news their child had been found

Edd Sorenson, of International Cave Rescue and Recovery, told BBC News that swimming out of the cave is 'extremely dangerous' and it would be safer for the boys to wait because they may panic in the water.

'As long as the kids know we know where they're at, they have food, a way to keep warm, water or filtration systems and light, it would really be the safest to wait it out.

'Taking them in the water would be extremely dangerous for the kids and the coach - but also for the rescuers.'

The boys and their 25-year-old coach were found on a mud bank 6ft above the water level, 3 miles into the six mile network of caves.

The pair of British divers who found them were part of an increasingly desperate search mission launched after the group vanished when the caves they were exploring flooded on June 23.

Alive: The frightened youngsters were huddled together when the rescue team discovered them trapped in the flooded cave

The starving children were 'too weak to eat' and are now being treated at the scene by medics, according to Chang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn

Footage filmed by the rescuers emerged yesterday showing the starved schoolboys asking: 'What day is it?'

News of the group all being found alive sparked scenes of jubilation across Thailand, where the public has nervously waited for news of the team's fate as family members held vigils praying for their rescue.

The emaciated and frightened boys were found perched on rocks deep in the cave in the north of the country.

Dramatic footage showed the moment two British divers, part of an international team of experts scouring the sprawling cave system for the group, first made contact.

Barely believing their success, one of the divers asked: 'How many of you [are there]?' When one boy replied 'thirteen', the rescuer exclaimed: 'Thirteen? Brilliant!'

They reassured the group, who were huddled together with their coach with baggy football shirts pulled over their knees, that more help was on the way.

But hopes of a speedy resolution to the incident were on a knife-edge today due to the forecast rains.

Diver Mr Reymenants said he agreed with BBC interviewer Emily Maitlis's assertion that the group could be trapped 'for weeks to come yet until they are strong enough'.

'None of them can swim or dive so that's going to be a real challenge,' he added.

Experts will meet today to start planning in detail how to extract the group from the place they were found more than a mile underground.

In the footage showing the moment they were found, one of the divers urges the group to stay calm and reassures them 'many, many people are coming... we are the first'.

The trapped children's responses reveal they had no idea what day it was or how long they'd been missing.

They asked the divers, named as Richard Stanton and John Volanthen, both global experts in rescue and recovery work in caves: 'What day is it? What day you come help me?'

The rescuers replied: 'Monday. One week and Monday. You have been here nine days. You are very strong, very strong.

'Navy Seals will come tomorrow with food, doctor and everything. Today you have a light? We will give you more lights.'

Meanwhile family members of the missing rejoiced after hearing the news. They were pictured celebrating and hugging each other after the confirmation.

Family members smile after hearing the news that their missing boys have been found alive after a nine day search

A mother rejoices as she's told her child will be coming home after being trapped in a flooded cave for more than a week

Worried family members have finally got peace of mind after being told their children are alive and will be coming home

Men embrace after hearing confirmation that their children have been found alive in a cave in northern Thailand

The boys, aged 11 to 16, are with their 25-year-old coach. They disappeared when flooding trapped them after entering the Tham Luang Nang Non cave on June 23

Aisha Wiboonrungrueng, the mother of missing 11-year-old Chanin, said she would cook her son a Thai fried omelette, his favourite food, when he returns home.

Their relief comes after a nine-day international search effort launched when the team went missing on June 23 inside the Tham Luang cave.

The boys are aged 11 to 16 and were on a trip with their 25-year-old coach from their team Moo Pa, Thai for Wild Boar. They disappeared when flooding blocked all of the cave's entrances.

Pictured: The Hero Brit divers who found football team Richard Stanton, Robert Harper and John Volanthen made up the heroic British team who led the way in finding the young team. The Brit trio are global experts in exploring underground systems and were sent 'because they are the best' for the job. They were provided with equipment from Derbyshire Cave Rescue. When they were dispatched British Cave Rescue Council vice chairman Bill Whitehouse said: 'They are experienced and able. 'They have been all over the world.' Three British cave-divers, Richard William Stanton (left), John Volanthen (in blue) and Robert Charles Harper (wearing orange) get ready to enter the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai Major Buncha Duriyapan, commander of the 37th Military District in Chiang Rai, said the three Britons got to work as soon as they landed. He said: 'The expert divers went straight from the plane into the cave to make an assessment.' When asked about the mission, one of the divers, John Volanthen simply told the BBC: 'We've got a job to do.' Last night Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation said: 'The 13 missing people in a cave in Thailand have been found and are all OK. 'We know there is still a lot of work involved for the evacuation, but for now we can take a moment to appreciate the huge international effort that has led to this point and say a huge congratulations to all involved.' They later added: 'Such fantastic news today that the 13 have been found, all well and all together. What a great team! 'We have been receiving a lot "thank yous" which we don't think are really for us. 'The British Cave Rescue Council organised the British cave divers to support the Thai operations - not us personally. 'However we are members of the BCRC and as they do not have a Facebook page so we will be sure to pass along all your thanks and good wishes!' In 2004 Mr Volanthen and Mr Stanton set a new record after cave-diving 76 meters (249ft). The pair broke the previous record, set in 2003, by 18ft thanks to a breathing system they developed for the attempt at Wookey Hole in Somerset. In a previous interview Mr Volanthen, an IT consultant from Bristol, said he started caving as a scout. He told the Sunday Times magazine: 'I enjoy the logistical challenge. Getting us and all our kit to the end of such a long cave… it's like that puzzle with the fox, the chicken and the grain. 'It's not dangerous if you do it right. There are just a large number of little things that you have to be on top of at all times.' Advertisement

A Thai provincial governor has said that all 12 boys and their coach have been found alive in a cave after they went missing over a week ago

Thai soldiers carrying equipments inside the flooded cave complex during a rescue operation for the missing team

Narongsak said the passageway the divers were making their way through goes upwards in some places and downwards in others and is extremely narrow, making it difficult for divers to fit through with all their gear.

They were repeatedly blocked by rising water that has filled sections of the cave and forced them to withdraw for safety reasons.

When water levels dropped on Sunday, the divers went forward with a more methodical approach, deploying a rope line and extra oxygen supplies along the way.

Soldiers and rescue workers work near Tham Luang cave complex yesterday before they were found alive

Rescue divers spent much of yesterday making preparations for what ended up being the final push in their search in the cave in northern Thailand

A crowd of Thai school children are seen on the grounds of Mae Sai Prasitsart school, near Tham Luang cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai province, following prayers for the missing boys

Thai Navy SEAL divers and rescue workers from other countries made initial progress through the narrow passageway yesterday

Thai soldiers carrying equipment inside the flooded cave complex during a rescue operation for the boys and their coach

Rescue divers spent much of yesterday making preparations for what ended up being the final push in their search in the cave in northern Thailand.

Chiang Rai's governor said the divers had concentrated on securing a rope line and placing oxygen tanks along the narrow passageway that they thought would lead them to the boys.

Public anticipation for the rescue had been high since Sunday, but officials avoided setting a timetable for the search and rescue operation.

Other efforts focused on finding shafts on the mountainside that might serve as a back door to the blocked-off areas where the missing may be sheltering.

Experts in cave rescues from around the world continued to gather at the site and combined their resources. An official Australian group followed a US military team, British cave experts, Chinese lifesaving responders and several other volunteer groups from various countries.

Teams have been combing the mountainside looking for fissure that might lead to such shafts. Several have been found and explorers have been able to descend into some, but so far it is not clear whether they lead to anywhere useful