Same divers will conduct next Thai cave rescue

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Mae Sai, Thailand (AP) — The Latest on the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a cave in northern Thailand (all times local): 10:35 a.m.

Thailand’s interior minister says the same divers who took part in Sunday’s rescue of four boys trapped in a flooded cave will also conduct the next operation as they know the cave conditions and what to do.

In this grab taken from video provide by Chiang Rai Public Relations Office, emergency workers carry a stretcher with one of the rescued boy to be transported by ambulance to a hospital, in Mae Sai, in the district of Chiang Rai, Thailand. Sunday, July 8, 2018. Expert divers Sunday rescued four of 12 boys from a flooded cave in northern Thailand where they were trapped with their soccer coach for more than two weeks, as a dangerous and complicated plan unfolded amid heavy rain and the threat of rising water underground. (Chiang Rai Public Relations Office via AP)

In comments released by the government, Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said officials were meeting Monday morning about the next stage of the operation and how to extract the remaining nine people from the cave in the country’s north.

Anupong said divers need to place more air canisters along the underwater route to where the boys and their coach have been trapped since June 23. He said that process can take several hours.

He said the boys rescued Sunday are strong and safe but need to undergo detailed medical checks.