'We must find the children today': Desperate cave search underway for Thai soccer team

John Bacon | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 12 missing boys trapped in cave believed to be alive A frantic search is ongoing for 12 boys and their soccer coach after they were last seen venturing into a cave in Thailand.

Rescuers in Thailand raced against time, heavy rains and rising waters in a desperate attempt Tuesday to save a soccer team trapped for a fourth day in a sprawling cave complex.

A Thai Navy SEAL team is leading the search for 12 children and their coach stranded in the Tham Luang Nang Non caves in Thailand's rugged, northernmost Chiang Rai Province. Helicopters, remotely operated underwater vehicles and two drones equipped with heat detectors are assisting in the effort.

“We must find the children today. We have hope that they are alive somewhere in there,” provincial Gov. Narongsak Osottanakorn told Reuters.

The children, ages 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach have not been heard from since entering the cave complex after practice Saturday. The search began when a mother reported her son had not returned from practice.

Family members played music and performed rituals near the cave, where bicycles and soccer gear left by the team remain untouched. Some team members who had gone home after practice waited at the entrance with the loved ones of the missing.

“I can’t concentrate at school knowing they are in there, so I came here,” said Sonpong Kantawong, 14, whose mother had driven him home from practice Saturday.

Rain complicates cave search for soccer team Rain is continuing to fall and water levels keep rising inside a cave in northern Thailand, frustrating the search for 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been missing for nearly four days. (June 27)

More: Thai officials believe 12 boys missing in cave are alive

Heavy rains pushed the water level inside the cave above 20 feet Tuesday, and authorities said more pumps would be installed to flush water from the cave. The muddy water has filled some of the caves' chambers, with the rising waters forcing brief halts to the mission.

“We will try to find passages which are under the water that hopefully will lead to other chambers" where the kids could breathe, Navy Lt. Naponwath Homsai told the Bangkok Post.

The cave is susceptible to flooding in the summer, and tourists are warned against exploring from June to November.

More than a dozen Thai divers and several from Sweden are spending long hours in the cave. The cave is cut into a mountainside, and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said local authorities may drill into the mountain if necessary.

Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said rescuers are working around the clock.

“The SEAL team will be working nonstop,” he said. “So night and day doesn’t make a big difference. They’ll just need to rotate.”

Contributing: The Associated Press