Miraculous Thailand Cave Rescue: June-July 2018 Quiz

Answer: Chiang Rai

The cave is located near a rural village Mae Sae in Chiang Rai Province, the northernmost province of Thailand. The Wild Boar soccer team consisted of 12 boys, aged from eleven to sixteen and their 25-year old coach were trapped in the cave from 23 June 2018. They decided to go to the cave after their practice to celebrate the birthday for one of the boys.

Tham Luang is a karstic cave with a length of 10.3 km (6.4 mi) which lies beneath Doi Nang Non, a mountain range of over 1300 m (4300 ft) on the border with Myanmar.

Answer: 3.2 km

They found a small rocky shelf about 3.2 km from the cave entrance, passing through a relatively dry area named Pattaya Beach. To make space for them to huddle together, they used rocks to carve a 5m (16.5 ft) ledge.

Answer: Meditation

Ake, a former monk, taught them how to meditate. Meditation helped them to stay calm and to use up as little air as possible using the correct breathing techniques and to conserve energy. Ake and three of the boys were stateless. They were living along the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, so it was not clear where they came from. All four were granted Thai citizenship on September 26.

Answer: Diverted the rain water from the sinkholes

Although pumps were used to drain water from the cave entrance, it was still not enough to prevent the water from rising in the cave. A Thai groundwater engineer came up with the idea of draining water from the sinkholes in the mountain, using makeshift pipes, hoses and even bamboos. This helped to stabilize the water level which was the first break-through for the rescuers.

Answer: 100

The first international rescuers to arrive were more than 30 US air force rescue specialists from the US Pacific Command and three British diving experts. They were later joined by cave divers from Belgium, Australia, Scandinavia and many other nations. As many as 10,000 people were involved in the rescue, including over 100 divers, 900 police officers, 2,000 soldiers and about 100 people from government agencies.

Danish diving instructor Ivan Karadzic who was the first to arrive on the scene said that cave diver rescuers are a rare breed - not more than a few hundreds in the world.

Answer: Chamber Three

Chamber Three was a large cavern roughly 1.5 km from the cave entrance. After the rescue base was established, hundreds of oxygen tanks and other supplies were brought in by pulley. The rescuers made further progress by reaching Monk's Junction, about 1.7 km from the entrance.

Answer: British

On July 2, one day after the diver base was established, British divers John Volanthen and Rick Stanton made their ways into cave and reached elevated area known as Pattaya Beach, where they surfaced and were disappointed to find nothing. However, they persevered and continued their search in the darkness. Just 400 meters further, they found an air pocket, they surfaced again and were relieved to find all the 12 missing boys and their coach still alive.

This was nine days after they had gone missing.

Answer: Death of a Thai ex-Navy Seal diver

By July 5, the boys were given foil blankets, food and light. Seven divers including a medical officer stayed to accompany them.

On July 6, Saman Kunan who was a former Thai Navy Seal diver died during an overnight mission whilst he placed oxygen canisters along the route. It was believed that his oxygen supply ran out. On the same day, Saman was awarded the Knight Grand Cross (first class) of the Most Exalted Order of White Eleplant by Thai King Vajiralongkorn.

Answer: 15%

As there were many rescuers in the cave, the oxygen level was depleted at a much faster pace. Air from the outside could not replace the air inside the cave fast enough. The rescuers had to maintain constant air supply to maintain the oxygen level.

Oxygen in a normal sea level atmosphere is 21%. The oxygen level must not fall below 15%. At oxygen levels from 12% to 16%, the breathing heart rate increases. At 10% to 14%, it will affect co-ordination, human judgement and breathing. Nausea and vomiting shall occur at 6% to 10%. Below 6%, convulsions will occur, follow by a cessation of breathing and cardiac arrest.

Answer: Used two divers to accompany each boy

Some of the flooded areas were very narrow which could only allow one diver to pass through. The rescuers came out with an ingenious idea of using two divers. Each boy wore a full scuba mask, with helmet and boot. Two divers accompanied the boy, with the lead diver carrying the boy's air tank. The divers guided each boy using an 8mm static rope which was pre-fixed. Each boy was tethered to the leading diver. Divers were also placed at about 25 to 50 meters intervals carrying air tanks for replenishment if required. The boys were sedated to prevent them from panicking which would have endangered the their lives and those of the divers.

On reaching the chamber operation base, the boys were carried by a chain of rescuers to the cave entrance. The whole operation took an estimated 3 hours on the first day of operation on July 8th and reduced to just over 2 hours on the final day on July 10th, 18 days after they were trapped in the cave.