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A Thai soccer coach who was trapped along with his gamers in a flooded cave six years in the past and rescued in a fancy operation that made headlines around the globe discovered himself stranded once more this week.
Ekkapol Chantawong was caught on the roof of his home after flash floods struck Thailand’s Mai Sai district. The flooding was attributable to hurricane Yagi, which wreaked havoc in neighbouring Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
He was amongst hundreds of individuals stranded within the floods that prompted the Thai authorities to deploy navy particular forces within the northern provinces on Thursday.
Flood waters had began receding from some areas of Mai Sai however a number of riverside settlements had been nonetheless flooded, district head Narongpol Child-an stated.
The flood waters arrived in Mr Ekkapol’s village on Tuesday and rose rapidly, forcing him and his household to spend the night time on the roof of their home.
“I used to be scared however I instructed myself I’ve to be calm. Wait and assess the scenario,” he instructed AFP by phone.
Mr Ekkapol stated he was drawing on his 2018 expertise with the “Wild Boars” group after they received trapped contained in the Tham Luang Nang Non collapse northern Thailand because of flash floods.
The coach and 12 footballers of his group, then aged 11 to 16, had been exploring the cave after apply when it instantly flooded after a heavy monsoon downpour. A pair of British divers discovered the group 10 days later.
As a substitute of screaming or crying, they had been sitting quietly at midnight, meditating.
Mr Ekkapol, who had spent a decade as a Buddhist monk, might meditate for as much as an hour at a time, his aunt instructed the Related Press. And he reportedly guided the trapped boys within the apply after they wanted it probably the most.
They had been finally rescued after 18 days.
Mr Ekkapol stated the water ranges had diminished by Thursday, permitting him to go all the way down to the bottom ground of the home. However they had been unable to go away because of robust water currents outdoors the constructing.
“I don’t suppose it’s completely different,” he stated, evaluating his present scenario to the 2018 incident.
“First, we’ve to focus and begin fixing the issue we face.”
“I don’t really feel extra stress with this stranding. I see extra of a approach out,” he instructed AFP. “I hope I don’t must go up on the roof once more tonight.”
He shared movies of him and his household stranded on the roof of the home and flood waters gushing by way of the road beneath.
Civilian authorities, supported by naval particular forces, had been utilizing boats and helicopters on Thursday to conduct rescue operations.
“The scenario could be very delicate,” Mr Narongpol instructed Reuters. “When it rains, the water rises in a short time.”
Flood waters had additionally entered Chiang Rai, one of many largest settlements in northern Thailand, inundating key roads and concrete areas and forcing the cancellation of 9 of the ten scheduled flights on the metropolis’s airport.
The airport itself was not flooded however rising waters had made the roads to the ability impassable, stated Kornchit Chomphudeng, head of Chiang Rai’s Workplace of Catastrophe Prevention and Mitigation.
“The flooding this time has unfold over a wider space than the current floods,” he stated.
