Missing 12 boys and their football team coach are found ALIVE in a cave
NINE DAYS after they went missing in Thailand
Thailand, July 02: All 12 boys and their football team coach have been found alive after becoming trapped in a flooded cave for more than a week in Thailand.
Chang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters that Thai Navy SEALs had found the group alive after nine days of desperate searching.
He added: 'We found them safe. But the operation isn't over.
'We will bring food to them and a doctor who can dive. I am not sure they can eat as they have not eaten for a while.'
He also said it was expected that in their condition, the boys would at first not be able to move their limbs, but medical teams would initially treat them in place.
An international search effort has gone on since the group went missing inside the Tham Luang cave.
The boys are aged 11 to 16 and are with their 25-year-old coach. They disappeared when flooding trapped them after entering the cave on June 23.
Their team is called the Moo Pa - or Wild Boar.
Narongsak said the passageway the divers were making their way through goes upwards in some places and downwards in others and is extremely narrow, making it difficult for divers to fit through with all their gear.
They were repeatedly blocked by rising water that has filled sections of the cave and forced them to withdraw for safety reasons.
When water levels dropped on Sunday, the divers went forward with a more methodical approach, deploying a rope line and extra oxygen supplies along the way.
Rescue divers spent much of today making preparations for what ended up being the final push in their search in the cave in northern Thailand.
Chiang Rai's governor said the divers had concentrated on securing a rope line and placing oxygen tanks along the narrow passageway that they thought would lead them to the boys.
Thai Navy SEAL divers and rescue workers from other countries made initial progress through the narrow passageway earlier today.
Public anticipation for the rescue has been high since Sunday, but officials avoided setting a timetable for the search and rescue operation.
In addition to the divers, teams have been working to pump out water as well as divert groundwater.
Other efforts have focused on finding shafts on the mountainside that might serve as a back door to the blocked-off areas where the missing may be sheltering.
Teams have been combing the mountainside looking for fissure that might lead to such shafts. Several have been found and explorers have been able to descend into some, but so far it is not clear whether they lead to anywhere useful.
Experts in cave rescues from around the world continued to gather at the site. An official Australian group has now followed a US military team, British cave experts, Chinese lifesaving responders and several other volunteer groups from various countries.
'These are challenging conditions and there's a lot of consideration for safety as well as, the environment outside is contributing to the environment inside,' said US Air Force Capt. Jessica Tait, part of a 30-strong US military team assisting in the search operation, referring to the rain that has been flooding the cave.
'So I'd say, yeah, it's an accurate statement that it's challenging.'
Courtesy: www.dailymail.co.uk
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Guv invites Hemant Soren to form govt in Jharkhand, oath on Nov 28
Ranchi, Nov 24: JMM leader Hemant Soren on Sunday met Jharkhand Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar and staked claim to form the government, soon after leaders of the INDIA bloc in the state unanimously elected him as the legislature party leader.
He resigned as the chief minister, before staking claim to form the government. He will officiate as the acting chief minister till oath is administered to him on November 28.
"I met the governor. We staked claim to form the government, and handed over support letter of alliance partners to him. He invited us to form the government. The swearing in ceremony will be held on November 28," Soren told reporters after meeting Gangwar.
Soren, who drove to the Raj Bhavan in his car, said the governor asked him to officiate as the acting chief minister in the interim.
Soren will be sworn in as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand, which was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000. He will be sworn in as the chief minister for the fourth term.
Earlier, leaders and MLAs of the alliance, during a meeting at Hemant Soren's residence here, unanimously elected him as the coalition's leader.
Congress's Jharkhand in-charge and party general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir and senior party leader Rajesh Thakur also attended the meeting, besides legislators of the coalition parties.
In a stunning comeback, Hemant Soren's JMM-led alliance on Saturday stormed to power in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term, winning 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, despite an all-out blitz by the BJP-led NDA which managed only 24 seats.
The majority mark in the state assembly is 41 seats.
Soren retained the Barhait seat by defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes.
Soren had to resign as the CM in January before being arrested by the ED in a money laundering case.
He is out on bail after he was released from jail on June 28 after nearly five months, as the high court granted him bail in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
He had resigned as the CM shortly before his arrest on January 31 by the ED.
Hemant Soren, the son of JMM supremo Shibu Soren, began his political career in 2009 as a Rajya Sabha member, but his tenure in the upper House of Parliament was short-lived.
He resigned in 2010 to become the deputy chief minister in the BJP-led Arjun Munda government. However, the alliance collapsed in 2012, leading to President's Rule in the state. Despite this setback, Soren's resolve to lead Jharkhand never faltered.
In 2013, Soren became the state's youngest chief minister at the age of 38, forming the government with the support of Congress and RJD.
However, his first term was short-lived, as the BJP took power in 2014, and Soren became leader of the opposition.
A pivotal moment in his career came in 2016 when the BJP-led government attempted to amend laws protecting tribal land, such as the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act.
Soren led a massive movement to protect tribal rights, which not only earned him widespread support but also set the stage for his return to power.
In 2019, Soren, with the backing of his allies Congress and RJD, reclaimed the chief minister's office. His JMM party won 30 seats.
This time, the party won 34 seats, its highest ever tally in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, signaling the growing popularity of his leadership.
