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The daring Thailand cave rescue mission in the treacherous confines of a Thai cave met a successful end yesterday, saving a total of thirteen people, a football team of 12 young boys and their coach. A two week rescue operation spread like wildfire in the entire world. The Thailand cave incident reminds us of similar past tragedies where people and even babies were left stranded for hours. Rigorous rescue operations were carried out to save them. Here’s a brief look at six of these incidents-
1.Thailand Cave Rescue, 2018
A soccer team of 12 boys and their coach went to celebrate one of their member’s birthday in Tham Luang Cave when they got stuck there due to heavy rains, causing a flood like situation. The water had come to a dangerous level for the members to escape. Two British divers and a foreign team of volunteers and healthcare facilities were involved in a rigorous rescue operation for more than two weeks. While many believed that the boys might never be able to come out because the sea is rough and many of them were not efficient swimmers, the news had disturbed people all over the world.
Read the heroic rescue of the team here.
2. Chilean Miners Rescue, 2010
Photo Credits: Express.uk
Chile is world’s top copper producer. However, its mining sites have often come into the limelight for its unsafety and uncertainty. In a horrific accident, one of the minings collapsed on August 05,2010 while its miners were still inside. As a result, 33 Chilean miners were trapped for 69 days 2,300 feet below ground in a copper mine. A thick dust cloud caused by the rock fall, blinded the miners for as much as six hours.
Heavy machinery and boreholes as deep as 6.3 inches in diameter had to be dug to rescue the miners. Geographical conditions like hard rock, outdated mine shaft maps made the operation even more difficult. Several off site boreholes were also drilled in order to rescue the miners. The miners had taken refuge in a tunnel. The food supplies were very limited but the men made careful use of the supplies to survive for a period of two weeks. Finally on October 13, 2010 the last man was pulled out after 70 days.
3. Girl Found Alive 15 days After Haiti Earthquake Buried Her, 2010
Photo Credits: thestar.com
On January 12, 2010 a teenage girl aged 16 or 17 Darlene Etienne, was in her cousin’s hillside home when an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck Port-au-Prince and the entire building crumbled on top of her. The earthquake had killed around 2,00,000 people and 15 days after the calamity, a passer by heard the girl groaning.
The rescuers had to dig a 4-foot deep, 2 1/2-foot wide trench to be able to give the girl some oxygen and water. One of the workers described that it was a miracle that she was even alive. She was dehydrated and had a broken left leg.
Watch the rescue video here.
4. U.S Airways, 1549 Crashes in Hudson River, 2009
Photo Credits: cnn.com
On January 15,2009 the U.S airways made its famous ‘splash landing’ in the Hudson river when all its engines had shutdown because of severe goose strikes. Cited as one of the most famous ditching operations in the history of evacuation, Captain Sullenberger ordered evacuation of all the passengers. Many waited on the wings of the aircraft while others swam to a nearby boat. The rescue operation involved 140 New York firefighters, police personnel, helicopters and divers. Everyone on board — 150 passengers, three flight attendants and the pilots — survived
5. 18 month old baby falls into a well, 1987
Photo Credits: cbc.ca
On October 14, 1987, an 18-month-old girl named Jessica McClure, had fallen into an abandoned well. Her mother, Reba McClure went to attend a phone call for only 5 minutes, when she saw her daughter had disappeared into a narrow crevice 22 feet below the surface.
Operation workers, reporters, television crews filmed the 58 hours long ordeal. Emergency workers piped fresh air down the well, burrowed through solid rock to create a rescue shaft for the toddler. She spent her time in the dark prison singing songs and calling out for her mother. Jessica had to undergo multiple surgeries but lived a happy childhood.
6. MV Maersk Alabama, 2009
Photo Credits: britannica.com/representational image
A U.S cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates, with the last American pirate seizure to have taken place only in 1815. After a standoff with the crew, the rifle-toting pirates fled in a covered lifeboat, taking the ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, with them. Phillips, tried to escape but was recaptured by the pirates. Finally, the U.S. Defense Department obtained permission from President Barack Obama to use force against the pirates if it appeared Phillips’ life was in imminent danger.
It took the U.S Navy SEAL only a couple of gunshots to kill the pirates in the head using night vision scopes thus setting the stage for Phillips’s safe rescue.
