“Body odor” revealed as reason divers found Thai youth soccer team
British divers say finding the Thai soccer team in the cave was not a coincidence. His team tracked them down by body odor.
British divers Rick Stanton (right) and John Volanthen (Photo: Reuters)
InterviewBBCOn July 12, British diver John Volanthen said they used their keen sense of smell to find the Thai youth soccer team trapped in Tham Luang cave.
"Some media outlets have said that finding the children was just a matter of luck, but I would say that's not necessarily the case," Volanthen said, dismissing earlier reports that divers were only lucky to find the team after running out of ropes along the cave and were forced to surface.
| The moment Thai special forces rescued the young soccer team |
"Our method in this situation is that we swim along the underwater passage in the cave, whenever there is space above us we will surface, shout and smell. In this case, we smelled the children's bodies before we saw or heard them," the diver added.
"The video (of the moment the team was found) that you see is only part of the story. What you can't see is that at that time we had taken off most of our equipment and were ready to go up and find the kids," Volanthen continued.
The 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach have been trapped in the flooded Tham Luang cave since June 23. Two British divers found them alive on a rocky outcrop about 4km from the cave entrance on the evening of July 2.
After finding the children, the rescue team needed more than 5 days before starting the rescue operation from July 8. The 3-day rescue operation helped 13 members of the football team to be brought out safely.