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Ambassador praises Danish divers for role in Thailand cave rescue

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Ambassador praises Danish divers for role in Thailand cave rescue
Rescue personnel in the Tham Luang cave complex during a mission to evacuate the remaining people trapped inside. Photo: Twitter @elonmusk/via REUTERS/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark’s ambassador to Thailand has thanked two professional divers from the Scandinavian country for their voluntary assistance in the effort to rescue 12 trapped boys and on adult from a flooded cave in northern Thailand.

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The episode, which has now concluded with all 13 people rescued, was describe as an “extraordinary drama” by Ambassador Uffe Wolffhechel.

A three-day operation to bring the group back to the surface was completed on Wednesday with two Danish divers, Ivan Karadzic and Claus Rasmussen, among the large number of foreign experts and other volunteers offering their assistance.

The rescued boys are currently recovering in hospital, international media including the BBC report.

“We are naturally happy and proud that two Danish elite divers have participated in the operation, which now, according to information, has ended in a good result,” Wolffhechel said.

Both Karadzic and Rasmussen work in Thailand.

The group became trapped in the Tham Luang cave network after becoming flooded in while visiting after football practice on June 23rd.

When news broke of the situation in the caves near the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai, both men made their way to the location to offer assistance.

Karadzic, who runs a diving agency on the southern island of Koh Tao, said on Sunday that he had been part of the team that placed replacement air tanks in the cave system for the divers bringing the boys up to the surface.

READ ALSO: Danish diver helps in Thailand cave rescue operation

“I was in contact with the two Danish divers to let them know that we were there for them if they needed our support,” Wolffhechel said.

“But (the rescue) was very well organised, so that wasn’t necessary,” he said.

There was no official Danish involvement in the rescue apart from the efforts of the two volunteer divers.

The ambassador praised all those who had volunteered to help with the operation.

“It’s not a given to be able to work together and ask other for help.

“But in this case there was an openness to making use of foreign expertise. And that has brought in the best from large parts of the world,” he said.

Asked why the rescue had become such a major news story in Thailand and the rest of the world, Wolffhechel highlighted the human aspect.

“It could have been my son in there, and then there is the completely extraordinarily dramatic nature of the episode,” he said.

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