Sandy Tribute To Thai Rescue Diver Saman Kunan

Puri: Internationally-acclaimed artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a sand sculpture on Puri sea beach on Monday as a tribute to Saman Kunan, a former Thai navy Seal who died for lack of air while placing air tanks inside the cave, where an entire soccer team with their coach has been stranded for nearly two weeks.

Eight of the 12 boys have been successfully rescued from the cave. Four of them were brought out on Monday, while the rest the previous day.

This leaves four more boys and their coach inside the tunnel. The Thai Navy Seal team has been engaged in the risky mission of rescuing them from Tham Luang cave in the Chiang Rai province of northern Thailand.

Narongsak Osottanakorn, the former Governor of Chiang Rai province and head of the joint command centre co-ordinating the operation, told reporters that despite the many challenges and the death of Saman Kunan, a few days back, “I expect we will have good news in the next few hours.” The whole operation could finish quicker owing to lower water levels now, he added.

Those trapped were players of the ‘Wild Boar’ soccer team.