13 rescued from Thai cave lost 2 kg weight: Medics
Chiang Rai (Thailand), July 11 : A Thai medical team said on Wednesday that the 12 boys and their coach rescued from a cave in northern Thailand have lost approximately two kg of weight each after spending more than two weeks trapped underground.
The team, however, said the weight loss doesn't pose a risk to their lives, Efe news reported.
Some of the children have pneumonia, but none of them has serious health problems, a member of the medical team at the provincial hospital of Chiang Rai responsible for assessing the health of the group said at a press conference.
The rescue operations culminated on Tuesday when the last four children and the coach were successfully taken out of the cave.
The last five members of the "Wild Boars" youth soccer team arrived at the hospital on Tuesday night with symptoms of hypothermia as a result of the harsh condition they faced during the 18 days they were inside the cave and the cold temperature of the water.
Members of the group were taken out of the cave in three batches between July 8-10.
The families of the first four boys rescued from the cave were allowed to visit their children, although with precautionary measures since the boys' immune system had become week.
The second group of rescued boys will be able to reunite with their relatives on Wednesday, while the third group will remain at least one more day in quarantine.
The "Wild Boars" were provided a soft diet of rice and chicken, in addition to several vitamin supplements.
The boys and the coach, all in good spirits, will spend at least seven days in the medical centre before being discharged.
The 12 boys, aged between 11 and 16 years, and their coach, 25, went into the cave after a soccer training, but a heavy rainstorm flooded the cave and blocked their way out, trapping them inside.
The mother of one of boys gave the alert after realizing that her son had not returned home. It was only nine days later that all of the soccer team was found, hungry and weak, four km away from the cave's main entrance.
The group had to learn scuba diving in less than a week in order to leave the cave, but the rescue task became even more challenging as many did not know how to swim.
Amid narrow tunnels and zero visibility, two divers -- one in front and one behind -- accompanied each boy through the maze of the partially flooded passages.
The difficulty of the operation resulted in the death of a volunteer on Thursday, a former member of the Thai Navy SEAL, when he ran out of air during a dive.
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Two FIRs lodged against Mithun Chakraborty for 'provocative' speech
Kolkata, Nov 6: Two FIRs have been lodged against actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty for allegedly making provocative statements during a BJP event in Salt Lake area near Kolkata last month, police said on Wednesday.
The complaints pertain to Chakraborty's speech on October 27 at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) in Salt Lake, during a BJP programme attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Kolkata to launch the party's West Bengal membership drive.
The first FIR was filed at the Bidhannagar South police station based on a complaint by an individual, while the second was lodged at Bowbazar police station.
"We have started an investigation into the case," a senior officer of Bidhannagar police said.
Shah was also present at the programme, which was organised to kick off the West Bengal leg of the BJP's membership drive. Shah had also felicitated Chakraborty for being honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year.
Although Chakraborty was unavailable for comment, BJP state president and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar described the FIRs a result of "vendetta politics.".
Majumdar alleged that the TMC government "has once again used the police to unfairly target well-known actor and senior BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty".
He accused the chief minister of employing such tactics "to serve political interests" and claimed that the state government's actions were part of an ongoing attempt to discredit political opponents.
"There is nothing provocative in his speech. These are nothing but attempts to intimidate him by using police as a political tool," he said.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh dubbed the BJP's allegations as baseless.
"The allegations of political vendetta are baseless. He shouldn't have made such provocative remarks. The law will take its own course," he said.
Chakraborty, who received India's highest film honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, earlier this year, had asserted on October 27 that the 'masnad' (throne) of West Bengal would belong to the BJP after the 2026 assembly elections, promising to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal.
While speaking at the programme, Chakraborty, a BJP leader, said, "In 2026, the 'masnad' will be ours, and we will do everything to achieve the goal."
In an apparent reference to TMC MLA Humayun Kabir's communal remarks aimed at BJP workers during the Lok Sabha elections, Chakraborty had allegedly made provocative remarks.
Chakraborty cautioned that no one should attempt to intimidate saffron party voters into abstaining from voting in the next assembly elections.
He called upon the booth-level workers of his party to resist any such attempts.
