Reading: The Amazing Thai Cave Rescue

In June 2018, twelve boys from a soccer team and their coach (huấn luyện viên) went into a cave (hang động) in Thailand. The oldest boy was 16 and the youngest, only 11 years old.

Suddenly, heavy rains flooded (ngập nước) the cave. The boys and their coach were trapped (bị mắc kẹt) inside!

The boys were stuck (bị kẹt) 4 kilometers deep and it was pitch black (tối đen). The monsoon (mùa mưa) rains continued and the water level kept rising (đang tăng lên).

Rescuers (người giải cứu) from many countries came to help. There were divers (thợ lặn) from the UK, USA, Australia, China, Japan, Laos, Myanmar and more. Over 10,000 people worked together to save the boys. It was one of the biggest rescue operations (chiến dịch giải cứu) in history.

The rescuers looked for the boys for nine days. Finally, they found them. They were alive but tired, frightened (sợ hãi) and very hungry.

Getting the boys out was extremely (vô cùng) difficult and dangerous. Sadly, one brave (dũng cảm) Thai diver, Saman Kunan died while transporting scuba tanks (bình khí nén). Now, there is a statue (tượng đài) of him outside the caves.

The rescuers worked hard to get the boys out safely. They sedated (gây mê) the boys and took them out on stretchers (cáng bệnh) partly underwater.

Some parts of the cave were narrower (hẹp) than others. Some passages (lối đi) were only 38 centimeters (15 inches) wide (rộng). The journey out the cave took nine to eleven hours for each boy.

After three long days, all twelve boys and their coach were finally out of the cave. Everyone was so happy and excited. The parents were relieved (nhẹ nhõm).

The news story was told around the world. The boys were very brave, and the rescuers showed when people work together, they can do incredible (phi thường) things!