Rescuers to extract final five from Thai cave Tuesday: official

Four boys and their 25-year-old football coach will be extracted today, says rescue chief

MAE SAI: Rescuers will guide the remaining five members of a youth football squad out from inside a flooded Thai cave on Tuesday, the chief of the painstaking operation to free them told reporters.

Four boys and their 25-year-old football coach "will be extracted today (Tuesday)", rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn said.

A doctor and three Thai Navy SEALs, who have stayed with the group since shortly after they were discovered huddled on a muddy ledge deep inside the Tham Luang cave complex, will also come out, Narongsak added.



So far eight boys aged between 12 and 16 have been led out of the cave system by a team of expert divers over two days.

Monday's rescue mission, which saw four boys extracted before dusk and whisked to Chiang Rai hospital, took around nine hours.



"Today (Tuesday) we hope to be faster," Narongsak added, of the complex and dangerous operation that involves diving through narrow, flooded chambers.



A health official earlier described the mental and physical condition of the eight rescued so far as "good", adding they will be kept in hospital for around a week.