BANGOR (NEWS CENTER Maine) – All eyes are on the dramatic rescue of a group of boys from a flooded cave in Thailand as officials continue the daunting task of pulling them to safety.
A fifth boy was rescued Monday morning, leaving six more teammates and the coach of the youth soccer team fighting for their lives.
Mainers have taken to Facebook to share their well-wishes and thoughts on the ordeal.
"Thank God. Such an amazing effort by so very many people gives me back a little bit of my faith in humanity," Kim Espinosa commented.
“Hopefully when they get the kids out they will dynamite the entrance to this cave so they don’t have to go through this again,” Edward Nowe wrote.
NEWS CENTER Maine also spoke to a local cave diver and paramedic from Old Orchard Beach, Jeff Toorish, about the complex operation.
"It's really going to depend on if they can keep those children calm enough while they're diving,” Toorish said.
Toorish, who is also teaches emergency wilderness medicine, said as trained divers work to swim the boys to safety, the main focus is to keep them calm.
“The real enemy here is panic. Any cave diver will tell you that at some point in their diving they'll feel panic. We just can't let that happen to these children,” he said.
The effort has brought in experts from around the world to help, including from here in the U.S.
SpaceX and Tesla founder, Elon Musk, has a team working on a “kid-sized” submarine.
Musk said he plans to send it to Thailand as the rescue mission continues.
President Donald Trump tweeted, “The U.S. is working very closely with the Government of Thailand to help get all of the children out of the cave and to safety. Very brave and talented people!”