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The Boys Are Out Of The Thai Cave & These Photos Show Exactly How The Rescue Happened

by Lani Seelinger
Linh Pham/Getty Images News/Getty Images

After a couple of tense weeks, the saga of the Thai soccer team stuck in a cave is nearly over, and all of the boys have been brought back to safety. If you weren't one of the approximately 1,000 volunteers or experts brought in to mastermind the boys' escape route, then photos of the Thailand cave rescue are about as close as you can get to the action.

According to The New York Times, it all began on June 23 when the 12 boys and their coach went into the cave, and it's not totally over yet, as those who were trapped underground for up to 18 days will be sent to a nearby hospital to recover for the next week or so. The Times is also reporting that the members of the Thai military who went into the cave to help them over the last several days still haven't emerged, so the rescue isn't quite complete — but this is a major step.

ABC News reported that the boys are still dealing with potential health issues — the hospital where they were taken said that two of them had caught pneumonia, and the rest will be monitored carefully for any infections. There aren't any photos of the boys in their current condition, but you can at least see them before the whole ordeal — in addition to other scenes from their rescue.

1

The Before Picture

Before they got stuck in a cave, the boys were all just normal kids.

2

The Rescue Scene

There was a whole team waiting for each boy to come out.

3

The Mouth Of The Cave

There was a lot to set up right at the cave's opening.

4

The Waiting Crowd

Everyone's got their eyes on this story, so there had to be journalists covering it in Chiang Rai, the nearest city.

5

A Truly Multinational Effort

Here, a member of the U.S. military assists the Thai authorities.

6

Outside Of the Cave

You'd never know what was going on under that jungle.

7

The Early Stages Of The Rescue

As you can see, there needed to be a lot of people involved.

8

Navy SEALS At Work

The boys went in on their own, but Thai Navy SEALS needed to help them come out.

9

The People Working

It was likely traumatic for the boys, and it was also really physically difficult for the people working to free them.

10

The Necessities

Along with the diagrams of how the rescue actually worked, you can also see exactly how big the necessary oxygen tanks are.

11

Difficult To Imagine

It's hard to imagine the all-encompassing darkness that the boys, and their rescuers, were working with.

The world is surely looking forward to the moment when everyone has safely emerged from the cave, but the success of the rescue operation so far does lend some optimism. For now, though, at least you have a good visual sense of what went on at that cave in Thailand.