Twelve Thai boys rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand will be discharged from hospital next week.
The last group of the 12-member "Wild Boars" soccer team and their coach was brought out of the Tham Luang cave, near the border with Myanmar, on Tuesday night, safely ending a dangerous rescue and evoking international relief and joy.
The 12 and their coach are recovering both physically and mentally and will be discharged from hospital on Thursday, July 19, health minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said on Saturday.
"We need to prepare both the children and their families for the attention they will receive when they come out," he said.
Video released last week showed the Thai boys smiling and waving from their hospital beds. Source: AAP
The boys and their coach lost an average of two kilograms during their ordeal but were generally in good condition and showed no signs of stress, a senior health official said earlier in the week.
After being brought out of the cave, one by one beginning on Sunday, they were taken by helicopter to hospital in the town of Chiang Rai, about 70 km away, to stay in quarantine.
The group ventured into the vast cave complex in the northern province of Chiang Rai after football practice on June 23 and were trapped when a rainy season downpour flooded tunnels.
They were lost for nine days before British divers discovered them on July 2, sitting on a ledge in a half-flooded chamber.
Rescuers carry a boy out of the Thai cave on a stretcher Source: AAP
Getting them out - which involved teaching boys as young as 11 who were not strong swimmers to dive through narrow, submerged passages - proved a monumental challenge.
A former member of Thailand’s Navy Seal unit died during a mission in the cave on Friday.
