All times in AEST
10:40pm: SBS's Omar Dabbagh talked to volunteers at Tham Luang Nang Non cave -
10:25pm: SBS's Omar Dabbagh has filed from Tham Luang Nang Non cave on Friday's developments -
Scorching 30 degree heat has returned to Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province, where a delicate rescue operation continues to save 12 Thai schoolboys and their coach trapped in a cave.
An early afternoon downpour led to fears of an ongoing deluge at the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex, with heavy storms forecast to hit over the weekend.
Excess rain could severely hamper efforts to drain water out of the cave so the trapped children - aged between 11 and 16 - and their 25-year-old coach could crawl out.
So far more than 140 million litres of water has been pumped out, while 30 oxygen tanks let off where the boys are trapped to improve air supply.
Hundreds of rescuers are now at the cave. Source: Getty
Oxygen had been severely reduced in the cave due to constant flows of rescue divers, which in part is believed to have led to the death of a former Thai Navy Seal.
38-year-old Saman Gunan died after he had delivered oxygen tanks inside the cave. He collapsed at roughly 1am overnight on his way out of the cave, due to a lack of oxygen.
The tragedy has been a huge blow for rescuers on the ground, who have been so focused on saving the boys.
Saman Gunan has been hailed as a "hero" by both Thai authorities and the country's prime minister, who have promised his death won't be in vain.
Foreign minister Julie Bishop has also passed on her condolences, as the waiting game resumes at Tham Luang.
10:05pm: Thai rescue personnel are receiving free massages from volunteers after their shifts.
Source: Getty
9:35pm: Elon Musk said he is sending engineers from two of his companies to Thailand to see if they can help bring out the youth trapped in the flooded cave.
Mr Musk tweeted the announcement after another Twitter user pleaded for him to help the 12 boys and their coach.
In a series of tweets, Mr Musk said his Boring Co, which digs tunnels for advanced transport systems, has advanced ground penetrating radar, and brainstormed that an air tunnel constructed with soft tubing like a bouncy castle could provide flexible passage out.
He said engineers from his Boring Co and SpaceX companies needed to be on site to appreciate the complexities of evacuation. There has been no immediate official reaction to his plans.
9:20pm: Born in Myanmar, raised by Christian teachers in Thailand, and now trapped in a flooded cave for 13 days, Adul Sam-on's unflinching politeness and startling ability to speak English is capturing hearts.
Images of the wide-eyed teen were beamed around the world when he was discovered alive with the rest of his young football team deep inside the cave.
9:04pm: ITV News has published headcam footage from rescuers showing "the tough conditions facing dive teams".
8:35pm: On Friday, Thai school students held prayers for the ongoing rescue operation.
Source: AAP
8:28pm: As the world awaits the rescue of the 12 boys and their football coach, here are five similar rescues from over the years.
8:17pm: FIFA has sent a letter to the president of the Football Association of Thailand inviting the young soccer players and their coach trapped in the cave to the World Cup.
The letter, signed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, also sends the best wishes of the organisation to the boys and their rescuers and says the invitation stands should they be rescued in time and are healthy enough to travel.
The letter says the team's appearance at the final would "undoubtedly be a wonderful moment of communion and celebration".
The boys have asked the navy seals taking care of them in the cave for details about what has happened in the World Cup.
8:10pm: Danish diving instructor Ivan Katadzic was on holiday in southern Thailand's beach resort of Krabi when he heard about 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in the flooded cave.
He spent a few days gathering equipment and then set off to help with the rescue, by which time intrepid cave divers from around the world had arrived too.
7:56pm: The body of Saman Gunan, the former Thai navy diver who died during the rescue, is being flown from Chang Rai back to his home province of Roi Et.
Source: AAP
Source: AAP
7:12pm: A CNN World Weather graphic highlights the difficult days ahead for rescuers.
Source: CNN
6:56pm: Getting pump equipment into the cave is no easy feat.
Source: AAP
6:27pm: One of 33 Chilean miners rescued in 2010 after spending 69 days underground in a collapsed mine has sent a message of encouragement and hope to the Thai boys and their soccer coach.
"I have no doubt that if the government of that country puts in everything and makes all the humanly possibly efforts, this rescue will be successful. May God bless you!" he said.
6:06pm: This is not the first time a group of children has got lost in Thailand's Tham Luang cave, according to one local.
Intu Incharoen of Chiang Rai province told ABC News this week that he and a group of friends became lost in the cave complex 16 years ago - only to come across another group who was also lost.
5:40pm: Here's a weather forecast of the region for the rest of Friday c/o Thailand's Bangkok Post.
Source: Bangkok Post
5:00pm: Thailand's Phuket News has shared a video via Facebook on the kind of conditions that rescue divers are "having to endure".
4:50pm: SBS's Omar Dabbagh reports from Tham Luang Nang Non cave.
4:40pm: CNN has run a photo of 38-year-old Saman Gunan, the former Thai navy diver who died from a lack of oxygen during the rescue.
Former Thai navy diver Saman Gunan. Source: CNN
3:56pm: It has started to rain in Tham Luang Nang Non cave, reports SBS's Omar Dabbagh.
3.30pm:
EARLIER TODAY
A former Thai navy diver has died from lack of oxygen during the rescue for 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave.
Saman Gunan, 38, of Roi Et province was placing cables inside the cave at the time, according to police.
"It was sad news," Chiang Rai deputy governor Passakorn Boonyaluck told reporters, adding "his job was to deliver oxygen (in the cave). He did not have enough on his way back."
Thai soldiers carry an equipment during rescue operations for 12 boys and their coach trapped in Tham Luang cave. Source: Getty
Passakorn Boonyaluck said Saman Gunan had volunteered to help with the rescue. He had left the navy but returned because he wanted to help with the rescue.
"On his way back he lost consciousness," said Thai Seal commander Apakorn Yookongkaew, adding that a friend had tried to help bring him out.
"But even though we have lost one man, we still have faith to carry out our work."
A map of the rescue site. Source: SBS News
Police have said the death will not hamper their rescue efforts but they're concerned that the amount of oxygen in the Tham Luang cave complex has become severely reduced.
About 1000 people are involved in the rescue operation, including navy divers, military personnel and volunteers.
More oxygen tanks have been let off where the trapped kids are.
Asked how the boys could make it out safely if an experienced diver could not, Apakorn said they would take more precautions with children.
The accident marks the first major setback for the gargantuan effort, which started almost two weeks ago after the "Wild Boars" team went into the cave in northern Thailand after football practice.
Race against water
Thai rescuers say they may be prodded into a complex extraction of 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave if forecast rains hammer the mountainside and jeopardise the rescue mission.
Thirteen sets of diving equipment have been prepared for the team, who have endured 12 nights underground in the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand, a saga that has transfixed a nation and united Thais in prayers for their safe return.
Water is being pumped out of the deluged cave round-the-clock, reducing the flooding by one centimetre an hour.
But with rain forecast to begin on Friday, the Chiang Rai provincial governor conceded the mission was now "a race against the water".
"Our biggest concern is the weather. We are calculating how much time we have if it rains, how many hours and days," Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters, without providing further details.
In a sign of increased urgency, Narongsak said medics and Thai Navy Seal divers are assessing whether the boys are fit and well enough to be taken out early - apparently softening his instance on Wednesday that "no risk" will be taken with the evacuation.
The prospect of the stranded "Wild Boar" team diving out is fraught with risk.
It takes seasoned cave diving experts around six hours to reach the muddy ledge where the boys are sheltering around four kilometres into the cave.
A student shows an image of her classmate Duangpetch Promthep, who is one of 13 members of the soccer team team trapped in Tham Luang cave. Source: AAP
Many of the youngsters - who are aged between 11-16 - are unable to swim and none have diving experience.
Three days after contact was made with the group, Thai Navy Seal experts continued to teach them the basics of diving.
But the areas where diving is still necessary are tight and may require the boys to swim through murky waters unaccompanied.
The looming rains have further tweaked anxiety among relatives of the trapped team, who on Wednesday appeared smiling, wrapped in foil blankets and in good health in video footage circulated by the Thai Navy.
"Yesterday I felt hopeful... today I heard the rain is coming," said Sunida Wongsukchan, great aunt of one of the boys Ekkarat Wongsukchan, 14, who goes by the nickname 'Bew'.
"I’m very worried."
Dive, climb or wait?
In a two-pronged strategy, rescuers are also hunting for a chimney down to the boys, creating a potential second option for evacuation in the event heavy rains force their hand.
They have enlisted the help of bird's nest collectors from southern Thailand attuned to finding hidden holes on forested cliffsides.
Authorities still hope they can manage any fresh deluge, with high-powered pumps draining 128 million litres (34 million gallons) of water so far from the cave in a round-the-clock effort.
"We are draining as much as we can," said Khao Khieupakdi, a Bangkok disaster prevention official, who like scores of other specialists has been seconded to northern Thailand.
Water has been cleared from the entrance to a rescue base camp in "chamber three" inside the cave, but onward sections towards the boys remain impassable without diving, he said.
The group was discovered after 10 days totally cut off from the outside world. Source: AAP
"I am concerned as the forecast said is for more rain."
Officials have ruminated on the possibility of the boys remaining in the cave until the monsoon season passes in three or four months.
But that option is a last resort and may have to be taken off the table if flooding worsens.
Days in the dark
Concerns for the mental and physical health of the boys are also mounting after a prolonged ordeal in the dark, claustrophobic cave complex.
Experts say the risk of psychological damage is high for youngsters trapped in traumatic conditions, while the lack of light may cause confusion.
Grandmother Kham-aoey Promthep, 64, shows a photograph of her grandson, Duangpetch Promthep. Source: EPA
"They cannot do anything... they have to save energy," said Major General Bancha Duriyaphan.
"They are chit-chatting in general. Talking, eating and sleeping," he said.
- Additional reporting AFP
