17 days later, all Thai boys out of the cave
What's the story
Bringing cheer to everyone watching, rescuers fighting to get out 12 minor boys and their football coach trapped in a Thailand cave have successfully extracted all of them on the third day.
Four of the boys were brought out of the Tham Luang cave on stretchers Sunday, and another four yesterday.
The story of these boys had tugged at hearts the world over.
Missing
On leisure trip, boys got caught amid floodwaters
On June 23, the 25-year-old coach took the 12 boys, aged 11-16, to the Tham Luang cave, but got trapped by rising floodwaters.
Rescue operations started the next day. However, amid heavy rains, water rose faster than it could be pumped out.
In the next days, the Thai navy was joined by rescue personnel from the US, Britain, China, and volunteers from all over.
Rescue
Rescue teams reached the boys more than a week later
After many obstacles, rains subsided on July 1, allowing rescuers access to a hitherto-blocked chamber.
A day later, the personnel, led by the British Cave Rescue Council, found the boys huddled up on an elevated rock surrounded by water, 4km from the cave's mouth.
Bringing relief to everyone watching, the boys sat, stood and talked to their rescuers, albeit briefly and weakly.
Problems
An unexpected problem: How to bring the boys out?
Then there was an unexpected problem: how to get the boys out. Pumping away water amid continuous heavy rains wasn't practical.
Despite trying, explorers didn't find openings that led to that chamber.
They could walk out, but they'd have to wait for the water to recede, which could take weeks.
Diving was an option, but that would mean training all 13, which would have taken months.
Information
As rescuers continued mission, coach sent apologies
In the next days, rescuers worked to run an Internet cable into the cave, so that the parents could talk to their children. Ekkapol Chantawong, the coach whose role in the team's predicament has split social-media, sent a note of apology to the parents.
Rescue
Rescue mission began five days after they were found
The rescue mission finally began Sunday. After a former Navy Seal diver ran out of oxygen in the cave and died, personnel started by feeding a kilometers-long air pipe into the cave to restore oxygen levels.
Over 100 exploratory holes were bored into the mountainside to open a second evacuation route.
But the boys still had to go through 4km of partially submerged, pitch-dark tunnels.
Status
All boys look healthy, to remain isolated for a week
Since then, it went well. Rescuers took two hours less yesterday than Sunday to bring out the second batch, learning from experience.
All are in good health overall. Two are suspected to have lung infection, but seem healthy.
They still haven't met their parents and are under quarantine, undergoing tests, but relatives have seen them through windows and talked on the phone.