13 rescued from Thai cave to be released next week
Bangkok, July 14 : The 12 school boys and football coach who were rescued from a cave in northern Thailand where they had been trapped over two weeks will be released from the hospital next week, the authorities said on Saturday.
Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn told the press that all 12 boys - aged 11 to 16 - and their 25-year-old coach would be leaving Chiang Rai hospital on the same day, reports Efe news.
The announcement of their discharge came the same day that two new videos were released in which the rescued expressed their gratitude and said they were well.
Some talked about what they would like to eat and another said "thank you" in English.
The boys appear seated on their hospital beds with their mouths and noses covered by white masks while each of their identification numbers appear on the walls above the beds.
The group entered the Tham Luang cave located in the northern province of Chiang Rai during an excursion on June 23 after completing a football training session when a sudden storm flooded their way out.
Their whereabouts were not known for nine days during which time they were also without food until they were found 4 km from the entrance on July 2 and finally rescued in batches.
The search and rescue teams sedated and transported them in stretchers underwater while navigating the flooded sections towards the exit.
Thai authorities are planning to turn the cave into a 'living museum' while the idea of turning the rescue into movies has also been mooted.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
