Thailand cave rescue: An ongoing tale of hope and despair for stranded soccer team

A search and rescue operation underway to save 12 teenage football players and their coach who are trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non Cave since June 23, 2018.

A search and rescue operation underway to save 12 teenage football players and their coach who are trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non Cave since June 23, 2018. This file photo released by Tham Luang Rescue Operation Center, shows the boys and their soccer 

Rescuers make their way down at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand. The frantic effort to locate them picked up pace as a break in the rain eased flooding in the system of caverns and more experts from around the world joined the anxious rescue mission. (Photo | AP )

Soldiers carry a pump to help drain the rising flood water in a cave. Thai authorities are racing to pump out water from the flooded cave before more rains are forecast to hit the northern region. (Photo | AP )

Family members walk near a cave where where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since June 23. (Photo | AP)

Thai rescuers prepare to enter the cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since June 23. (Photo | AP)

In this July 3, 2018, file image taken from video provided by the Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page, the boys smile as Thai Navy SEAL medic help injured children inside a cave in Mae Sai, northern Thailand. The group was discovered July 2 after 10 days totally cut off from the outside world, and while they are for the most physically healthy, experts say the ordeal has likely taken a mental toll that could worsen the longer the situation lasts. (Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page via AP, File)

International rescuers team prepare to enter the cave where a young soccer team and their coach trapped by flood waters. (Photo | AP)

Thai Buddhist monks pray for the 12 boys and their soccer coach who went missing in a flooded cave in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. (Photo | AP)

The body of Saman Gunan, a former Thai navy SEAL who died during an overnight mission, is carried during a repatriation and religious rites ceremony at Chiang Rai Airport in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand Friday, July 6, 2018. He died from lack of oxygen, underscoring risks of extracting the team. (Photo | AP)

In this handout photo released by Tham Luang Rescue Operation Center, Thai rescue teams use headlamps to enter a pitch-black cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, Monday, July 2, 2018. The group was discovered late July 2 after 10 days totally cut off from the outside world, and while they are for the most physically healthy, experts say the ordeal has likely taken a mental toll that could worsen the longer the situation lasts. (Tham Luang Rescue Operation Center via AP, File)