Biodun.BBC: Thailand cave rescue

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

BREAKING: Thailand cave rescue to be turned into Hollywood movie

12 July 2018 - 04H39 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Tamara Kachelmeier and Biodun Iginla, France24 Entertainment reporters, Los Angeles

© AFP | Volunteers celebrate at a makeshift press centre in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province on July 10, 2018, after the twelve boys and their football coach were rescued.The final five members of a young football team were rescued from a flooded Thai cave on July 10, after spending 18 harrowing days trapped deep inside, completing an astonishing against-the-odds rescue mission that captivated the world.

LOS ANGELES -

The mission to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thai cave is to get the Hollywood treatment in a movie announced by faith-based production house Pure Flix.

Managing partner Michael Scott, who lives in Thailand and was at the rescue site in Chiang Rai as the boys were being pulled to safety, made the announcement late Tuesday on Twitter.

"I couldn't be more excited. This story has meant so much to me as I have followed it in Thailand this summer," he said in a video filmed at the scene of the flooded cave in the country's north.

"My wife actually grew up with the Thai Navy SEAL that died in the cave. To see all that heroic bravery in the cave, and to get all the divers out, it's just such a touching event and so personal to me."

Stunning video footage emerged Wednesday of several of the "Wild Boars" team -- aged 11 to 16 -- being freed from the Tham Luang cave on stretchers, ending a successful three-day rescue.

They are in good physical and mental health, say doctors, despite a harrowing 18 days inside the dank, dark cave before a risky rescue operation that was dubbed "Mission: Impossible".

Scott's wife has been involved with planning the funeral for Saman Kunan, the former SEAL that died on July 6 while helping install oxygen tanks in preparation for the extraction.

"We're here really looking at this as a movie that could inspire millions of people across the globe," Scott added.

"And we're here witnessing the events, gathering some contacts and everything, to really tell a story about an international effort, the entire world coming together to save (12) kids trapped in this Thai cave."

Pure Flix co-founder David A.R. White told The Wall Street Journal the company -- which was behind the 2014-18 "God's Not Dead" trilogy -- was talking to actors, writers and potential investors.

"Pure Flix joins the rest of the world in thanking God for answering prayers for the successful rescue of those trapped in the cave in Thailand," the company said in a statement.

A Thai policeman speaks with a Thai soldier at the Tham Luang cave area on 8 July 2018.

by Wang Yang and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Thailand

Rescuers have begun a mission to evacuate 12 boys and their coach from the cave where they have been trapped for two weeks.

Teams entered the cave at 10:00 local time (03:00 GMT), operation chief Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters.

All non-essential staff have been cleared from the site near the entrance, leaving only diving teams, medics and security forces.

The boys were exploring the cave on 23 June when they were cut off by water.

Thirteen foreign divers and five from the Thai Navy are involved in the rescue mission.

The earliest the first boys could emerge is 21:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Sunday, according to officials. It is thought the whole operation could last several days.

Both the trapped group and their families had been informed of the plan.

It is unclear exactly how the boys will be moved but it appears that the journey will include some diving and walking in areas where the water level permits.