A rescuer stands in front of the entrance to the flooded cave complex in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, Sunday, July 1. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Mae Sai (AP) — Rescue divers are advancing in the main passageway inside the flooded cave in northern Thailand where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been missing more than a week.
Thai navy SEALs said in a Facebook post early Monday that divers since Sunday night had reached a bend where the kilometer-long passage splits in two directions.
The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach entered Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province on June 23. Heavy rains that flooded key passages are believed to have trapped the soccer players and have thwarted their rescue.
The divers, supplied with rope and extra oxygen, are aiming for a sandy chamber on higher ground in the cave, where they hope the 13 were able to stay dry.
A military transport helicopter prepares to carry drill machine to be used for the search of missing 12 boys and their soccer coach, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand, Monday, July 2, 2018. Rescue divers are advancing in the main passageway inside the flooded cave in northern Thailand where the boys and their coach have been missing more than a week. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)A military transport helicopter carries a drill machine to be used for the rescue search of missing 12 boys and their soccer coach, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand, Monday, July 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)A rescuer makes his 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, Monday, July 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)Chinese rescues team members talk near a cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand, Monday, July 2, 2018. (AP photo/Sakchai Lalit)A rescuer makes his way down muddy steps past water pump hoses at the entrance to a cave complex where 12 soccer team members and their coach went missing, Monday, July 2, 2018, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
