Tankfire South Korea
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In June 2018, twelve boys and their football coach became trapped deep inside the Tham Luang Nang cave in northern Thailand. Heavy monsoon rains had flooded the cave system just hours after the team entered, cutting off all exits and submerging much of the narrow passageways.
Dewatering pump capacity of 144 million litres of water
To support the rescue efforts, the Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) deployed two Hytrans mobile pump units with FloodPumps just outside the cave. The system pumped approximately 144 million litres of water per day for several days and diverted waterflows entering the cave from outside.
Challenging rescue operation
Because of efficient dewatering the water level in the cave steadily decreased, even with rainfall continuing. In total more than a billion litres of water (the equivalent of 400 Olympic-size swimming pools) was pumped out of the cave.
Lowering the waterlevel in the cave was essential to buy time for rescue teams working deep inside the flooded cave network. The cave had some extremely narrow parts and the main route was blocked. The Hytrans system’s high flow capacity and rapid setup allowed floodwater to be removed efficiently in one of the most remote and challenging environments imaginable.
After 17 days (!) the entire group was finally rescued safely. An outcome made possible by fast coordination, international teamwork.
