All 13 members of a youth soccer team are out of a cave complex in Thailand, according to multiple reports on the scene, a miraculous and happy ending to the weeks-long ordeal.
The 12 boys, ranging in age from 11 to 16, and their coach, 25, had been stranded for more than two weeks when rising floodwaters trapped them in the cave complex in the nothern Chiang Rai province.
Royal Thai Navy Seals confirmed to Sky News that all 13 were out of the cave as night drew near Tuesday evening.
Eight of the boys were brought out on stretchers over the first two days, four on Sunday and four more on Monday. The remaining boy and their coach were out by the end of the third day of the dangerous rescue operation.
They are being immediately taken to the hospital via helicopter for evaluation after being trapped underground for nearly two weeks.
The evacuation started Sunday, several hours after 13 international cave diving experts and five Thai Navy SEALs entered the cave in an attempt to get the boys out one by one as they navigate through flooded and narrow tunnels.
CNN notes: "To reach the boys, divers must navigate a series of dark, flooded tunnels for up to six hours. With the entire round trip taking roughly 11 hours to complete, it could be days before the entire group emerges."
It is estimated that the boys and their coach are 1.24 miles from the mouth of the cave and about 0.6 miles below the surface.
The dozen boys between the ages of 11 and 16 are accompanied by their 25-year-old coach. They have been stuck in the cave since June 23 after heavy rains flooded the Tham Luang Nan Non caves in Chiang Rai, a popular tourist attraction in the region. They had been missing for 10 days before they were discovered.
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