At least six countries have provided assistance to help save the boys who are trapped in the flooded cave.

The United States said it was deeply worried for the missing players and their coach – who went missing in the Tham Luang Cave in northern Chiang Rai province – as well as their families and supporters.

US Special Operations Command Pacific Search and Rescue Team’s members survey in the cave area as they join the rescue operation for the missing football players and their coach at the Tham Luang cave in Tham Luang Khun Nam Nang Noon Forest Park in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, 28 June 2018. At least 12 members of a youth soccer team are believed to be missing after being trapped in a flooded cave that they were visiting on 23 June.// EPA-EFE PHOTO

The Hawaii-based United States Indo-Pacific Command (PACOM) has sent a search and rescue team at the request of the Thai government to assist in the search.

The 30-member US search and rescue team reached Chiang Rai yesterday to share its experience in searches and bolster the efforts being made by Thai authorities.

“We hope the players and their coach will be brought home quickly and safely,” said a statement from the US Embassy yesterday.

US Ambassador Glyn T Davies, who led a delegation of US-Asean Business Council to see Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House yesterday, said the US government and its citizens were concerned about the young footballers and sent their best wishes for their safety.

An award-winning rescue team, “Vientiane 1623”, has been in Chiang Rai to help in the operation since Tuesday. The volunteer group was founded in 2010 and won the prestigious Magsaysay Award in 2016.

Two British cave-divers (2nd and 3rd-L) with Thai army soldiers and local rescue personnel are seen searching for new openings in the mountain of Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai province on June 28, 2018 during rescue operation for a missing children’s football team and their coach in Tham Luang cave. A team of US military personnel and British divers joined rescue efforts at a flooded cave in northern Thailand where 12 children and their football coach have been trapped for five days as heavy overnight rains hampered the search. // AFP PHOTO

Three rescue experts from England’s Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation arrived at Tham Luang on Wednesday. They brought a specialised radio system that can transmit messages for hundreds of metres through solid rock, as well as diving equipment.

The team in 2014 saved three divers who were trapped in a cave in England’s East Midlands. Their ordeal was similar to the Thai footballers as their exit from the cave was blocked by a flash flood.

Three German diving experts are also on the ground. China and the Philippines have also expressed readiness to send rescue units to the scene if requested by Thailand.

News on social media said that a group of more than 10 frogmen from the Philippines were ready to join the operation and had been trying to contact Thai authorities.