Attempts to bring out the remaining 9 survivors trapped in Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai will resume this morning after four of the young footballers were safely extracted in a dramatic rescue operation.

The four boys, who have not been officially identified, are now being given medical check-ups at Chiang Rai provincial hospital where an army of journalists are camping out to wait for news on their conditions.

Chief of the rescue operation Narongsak Osotthanakorn said in a press conference last night that rescue divers would go back into the cave to retrieve the remaining survivors after all officials and agencies concerned have conducted an assessment of yesterday’s rescue operation.  It’s still unclear when the rescue operation will resume.

He said altogether 90 diving experts, 50 of them international divers, were involved in yesterday’s operation which succeeded in bringing out four of the survivors.

Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha will this afternoon fly to Chiang Rai to be briefed on the progress of the rescue operation.  He will first fly to Phuket where search teams are still looking for missing Chinese passengers from a dive boat which capsized last Thursday.

Interior Minister Gen Anupong Phaojinda, who will accompany the prime minister to Chiang Rai, said rescue operation chief Narongsak would hold a meeting with all agencies concerned this morning to assess yesterday’s operation and discuss ways of bringing out the remaining nine footballers.

The interior minister said he had given an instruction for the rescuers to assess their readiness before resuming the operation to prevent losses.  He believed the same teams of rescuers would go back into the cave as they are now familiar with conditions inside.