Diving Operation Underway to Rescue Thai Soccer Team Trapped in Cave

The Thai government launched a rescue operation to recover the 12 soccer players and their coach who are trapped in a cave, the Associated Press reported Saturday.

Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osottanakorn confirmed 13 foreign divers and five Thai divers will attempt to complete the operation. He believes the divers will return by 9 p.m. local time Sunday (10 a.m. ET) at the earliest, with two divers accompanying each of the players as they exit the cave.

The team had been missing for nine days before rescue teams first made contact. However, extracting the players and their coach has proved difficult.

The BBC reported a former Thai Navy SEAL diver died after delivering oxygen to those inside the cave, as the oxygen level was dropping below normal. In addition, Thai officials were worried about further flooding of the cave created by a monsoon expected to hit Sunday.

"At first, we thought the children could stay for a long time," Rear Admiral Apakorn Yookongkaew said to reporters. "But now things have changed, we have a limited time."

According to the AP, officials believed the weather conditions created a window for the rescuers to try to bring the team out.