Thai cave rescue: Boys speak to media for first time

From Morning Report, 7:10 am on 19 July 2018

The 12 members of a youth football team and their coach who spent more than two weeks trapped underground in a flooded cave network in northern Thailand have appeared in public for the first time since their ordeal. Those are the translated words of one of the twelve boys. They are, finally, returning to their homes after being discharged from Chiang Rai Hospital where they've been under observation since last week. The 25-year-old coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, told reporters the team found the tunnel they had come in by was full of water when they went to leave. He says their first reaction was to use rocks to try to carve a dry course through the sandy walls. Philippa Tolley speaks to correspondent Richard Ehrlich in Thailand.