ELEVEN Thai cave boys are now rescued: Three children are carried out, leaving just one more and their football coach to be freed from flooded tunnels

• Mission to extract the four remaining football players and coach from cave began on Tuesday morning
• First three boys 'carried out on stretchers' and into ambulance between 4pm  and 5pm (10am - 11am UK time)
• Only one child and their 25-year-old coach now remain to be rescued from the flooded cave system
• Eight of 12 Wild Boar FC players rescued  Sunday and Monday after becoming trapped by monsoon floods 
• Two of the rescued players, aged 12 to 16, are being treated for pneumonia and others have hypothermia
• Doctor says they are unlikely to be well enough to accept FIFA's invitation to watch World Cup Final in Russia 
• Boys' parents had to wear surgical robes and masks to visit them in hospital in Chiang Rai province last night  

Three more members of a Thai youth football team trapped in a flooded cave for 18 days have been rescued and carried out on stretchers to waiting ambulances, leaving just one boy and their coach still stuck underground.

Relatives of the one of the Wild Boar FC players said boy number nine was brought out shortly after 4pm local time (10am UK time), and number ten some 15 minutes later. The 11th rescued child emerged an hour after the ninth.

The ninth rescue has since been confirmed by Thai Navy SEALs, who are leading the operation to rescue the final four school boys and their football coach that began this morning.

The governor of the rescue mission said Tuesday's operation will be more difficult than the previous two days, due to the increased number of people who need to be evacuated, but he expects that 'everybody will be out today.'

As well as the remaining players and their 25-year-old coach, there are four Thai Navy SEALs - including a medic - who will be extracted once the team are freed today. They have been staying with the trapped school boys since they were discovered huddled together on a muddy ledge 2,620ft (800 metres) underground on July 2.

The rescuers are determined to get the final five out of the Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, before the monsoon rains make an evacuation impossible.

Going back in: The mission to rescue the final four boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand has begun, seen here in a picture posted on Twitter by US billionaire Elon Musk

Among the final batch to be rescued is 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungruang (second left), whose nickname is Titan

'The water level is almost at the same level as for the first two days so we decided to carry out the operation for the last batch,' Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said.

'If nothing goes wrong the remaining boys, the doctor [a Thai Navy Seal medic] and the three [Thai] Navy Seals who have staying with the boys since the beginning of the mission will come out this evening.' 

The operation to rescue the remaining four boys and their coach began around 10am local time (4am UK time) on Tuesday.

Officials also announced the first group of four to be evacuated are aged between 14 and 16 and the second group are aged between 12 and 14.

That means that 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungruang, whose nickname is Titan, remains trapped in the dark cave.

Officials last night suggested coach Ekaphol Chantawong, 25, could face a night underground alone because the divers' system of extracting four boys at a time was working well - but rescuers said all those remaining will be brought out today. 

As the final day of the mission began, the rescued children have been praised by a Danish diving instructor who was part of the team helping to guide them out through the water-filled tunnels.

'They are being forced to do something that no kid has ever done before,' Ivan Karadzic, told the BBC.

'It is not in any way normal for kids to do cave diving aged 11. They are diving in something that is considered an extremely hazardous environment, in zero visibility, the only light in there is the torches you bring yourself.

'We were obviously very afraid of any kind of panic. I cannot understand how cool these small kids are ... Incredibly strong kids.'

Two of the eight boys rescued so far are being treated for pneumonia and the other six have hypothermia, a Thai doctor revealed.

The rescued boys are said to be in good spirits and feasting on bread with chocolate spread.

Their relieved parents were forced to wear surgical robes and masks and were not allowed to hug their sons to prevent infection when visiting them in hospital last night.   

Saviours: Rescue personnel prepare the transport for the evacuation of the final four boys and their coach trapped in the flooded cave, in the northern province of Chiang Rai

Ready, set, go: A rescue transport is being cleaned out and equipment readied as the rescue mission is underway

Rescue personnel walk at the site of the Tham Luang cave complex during a mission to rescue the remaining members of a soccer team trapped in a flooded cave in Chiang Rai, Thailand

The first eight to be evacuated have all been given inoculations against rabies and tetanus, and are all being treated with antibiotics amid fears they may have been bitten by disease-carrying bats inside the huge underground network.

The boys are weak and ravenously hungry, Thailand's public health chief Dr Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk revealed, but have been laughing and joking with staff and officials.

Among the first things the children told medical staff were 'we miss home' and 'we're happy', he added.

However, they are unlikely to be well enough to take up FIFA's invitation to watch the World Cup final in Moscow later this week.

Two of the boys have pneumonia, a lung infection which can be exacerbated by spending extended time in a cold and damp environment.

'These boys are being treated with antibiotics. All of the boys were suffering from hypothermia when they arrived at the hospital,' Dr Jedsada said.

'But they have all now reached normal body temperature. The hypothermia could have been a result of diving for several hours.

'All of the boys have been given inoculations and rabies inoculations because of the concern that they may have been bitten by bats which live in the cave.

'One of the boys has a slow heartbeat but overall they [the eight evacuated so far] are in a safe condition and their lives are not in danger.'

The doctor said blood samples taken from the boys will be sent to a specialist lab in Bangkok to test for 'emerging diseases'.

Their relieved parents will only be allowed to go to their bedsides once they have been given the all-clear.

Pictures of General Prayut's visit to the rescue site and the hospital were released by the Thai government last night. Pictured: He speaks to families of the trapped boys

Hospital workers watch a press conference at their hospital where rescued boys are tended to, in Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand

'But parents and other families members must remain two metres from the boys and must wear surgical masks and robes when they visit them,' Dr Jedsada said. 

Dr Jedsada said in general the boys are in good spirits.

'They are very talkative. They were laughing and joking with the prime minister [General Prayut Chan-o-Cha] when he visited them last night.

'They say they are happy to be out of the cave and want to go home.'

But he said the boys would remain in hospital for at least a week and were unlikely to be well enough to travel to Russia for the World Cup final on Sunday. 

'The boys are unlikely to be well enough to go to watch the World Cup final in Moscow but they can watch it live on the TV for sure.' 

Yesterday, the British-led rescue mission resumed with four more boys from the Wild Boars extracted to safety through miles of claustrophobic underground tunnels. 

Incredibly, they could not even swim before their ordeal, and were pulled along through the tunnel with the help of expert divers, including some from Britain.

Now just four of the youngsters and their coach remain in the hellish Tham Luang cave, in northern Thailand. The 13 were trapped during a visit on June 23 when monsoon floods blocked the cave exit and forced them back three miles into the mountain – where they have stayed on a ledge starving in the darkness.

Good news: Onlookers watch and cheer as ambulances transport some of the rescued schoolboys from a helipad to the to the Chiang Rai Pranukroh Hospital in Chiang Rai, having been airlifted from the caves

Mission: As Monday's part of the rescue mission came to a close, one of the boys is seen being moved from a military helicopter to an ambulance taking them to hospital

Last night, emerging from the cave complex, some of the boys were carried to a fleet of helicopters amid frenzied cheering from onlookers.

In one dramatic scene at 6.30pm, an army medic hoisted a drip while another held a monitor as a team of soldiers carried a boy on a stretcher. The youngster was wrapped in a silver space blanket to preserve what little body heat he had left. The medical team were all wearing masks to protect against infection.

That boy and at least one other had to be airlifted to Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, where the first four children from Sunday's rescue mission are recovering.

From their dedicated ward, the boys have demanded meals of pad krapow – a Thai comfort dish made from spicy pork, basil leaves and rice. On doctor's orders they are getting no more than baby food, Mr Osottanakorn revealed.

'The four children from today are in good health,' he said. 'Doctors have told us we must be careful about the food that is given to them because they are fragile after starving for many days. They can take normal food like diluted porridge.'  

Thousands of rescuers including Thai Navy SEALs and elite British divers have been working around the clock to come up with a plan to bring the exhausted and starved boys home safely

The relieved parents of the rescued Thai school-boys beamed with delight after visiting their beloved sons at hospital last night.

The mothers and fathers could hardly contain their joy at the successful reunion with their children at the Chiang Rai Pranukroh Hospital – despite not being allowed to kiss or hug them.

The parents were given a message of support by Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-Cha, who visited the Tham Luang cave rescue site yesterday.

They followed the PM from the jungle site to the hospital in the provincial capital Chiang Rai where they were able to see their boys.

However, the anxious wait for the rescue of the remaining four boys still stranded inside the flooded cave continues.

These parents stayed at the cave entrance last night – while the others visited their boys.

The relieved parents – and at least one little sister - can be seen smiling and clearly relieved as the talk to General Prayut.

Among the group were the parents of Pipat Phothi, known as 'Nick' and Ratdao Janthapoon, the mother of Prajak Sutham, known as 'Note'.

Not over yet: Thai soldiers arrive on military truck at the Tham Luang cave area as the operations continue for those still trapped inside the cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province 

Earlier the prime minister visited the rescue operation centre in front of the cave entrance and met Thai military officers, cave diving specialists – including the British pot-holers – and the all the rescue workers.

General Prayut also visited medical staff at the Chiang Rai Pranukroh Hospital who are treating the stricken Wild Boar FC players.

Pictures of General Prayut's visit to the rescue site and the hospital were released by the Thai government last night.

The meetings with the parents in the jungle and later at the hospital took place after the eighth boy was evacuated from the flooded cave.  

Yesterday afternoon, public health inspector Dr Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong said the parents of the latest foursome would be allowed to see their children in the evening but added: 'Visitors will only be allowed to meet and talk to the patients but no hugging or touching – and they need to leave a one to two-metre distance.'

The boys are being monitored for breathing difficulties, hypothermia and an airborne lung infection known as 'cave disease' caused by bat and bird droppings which can be fatal if untreated.

The Thai authorities have refused to name any of the rescued boys until all of them are out (pictured: umbrellas are used to shield the identities of boys airlifted to hospital)

While the names and pictures of the first four boys have been broadcast all over the world, Thai authorities have refused to officially name any of the rescued until all of them are out.

Once again, British cave experts spearheaded yesterday's operation which involved more than 100 divers. Seven Britons chaperoned the boys through the treacherous tunnels as part of a team that included 18 international cave divers and five elite Thai navy SEALS. 

Scores of other volunteer cave divers from around the world helped by delivering air refill tanks and tightening the guide rope along the route, which includes ten 'choke points' where the mud-clogged tunnel is terrifyingly narrow.

Friends of the British experts claimed they 'never panic' under water and would be keeping reassuring eye contact with the children. Wearing full-face masks, the boys either swam or were pulled along. Yesterday's nine-hour mission – starting at 11am – was two hours shorter than Sunday's.

A source who saw two of the four boys walk out of the cave yesterday said they looked 'tired but healthy', adding: 'Imagine marathon runners. It's like when they reach the finish line exhausted.'

Last night the Thai prime minister flew to the cave to thank the rescue squad, and said the ordeal should serve as a wake-up call to all children to avoid it happening again.