Two boys missed the Thai cave trip that has entombed their friends. One had homework to do and the other got a lift home from soccer practice with his mother. Otherwise they would be sitting in a flooded cavern waiting for rescue, too.
Thirteen-year-olds Songpol Kanthawong and Tsaweechai Namsang pulled out of the trip to Thamg Luang cave with 12 of their soccer teammates and coach at the last minute, the Daily Mail reported.
Kanthawong and Namsang nervously follow the stories about their teammates who have been trapped in the cave since June 23 after rain water flooded the only passage back to the outside.
Emergency personnel have been trying to pump water out of the flooded cave area while divers maintain contact with the team discovered on Monday, The Mirror reported.
"I was going to go to the cave but I had not done my homework," Namsang said, according to the Daily Mail. "So I had to go home to finish it."
"When I first heard the news that they were trapped I didn't believe it. But as more and more reports came out I realized it had to be true. I am worried about them."
Kanthawong said he would have been on the trip but he didn’t have his bike to ride up to the cave with his friends.
"Otherwise I would have been stuck too," the youth said. "When I found out that they were trapped I was so sad and upset. I was crying and I could not sleep that night I can't stop thinking about them.”
"I was very frightened for them. My mum would have been struck down with worry if I was with them. She would have ended up in hospital."
The boys said that they have faith in their coach to keep their friends and teammates safe until they are rescued.
"The trip to the cave had been planned for a few days," Kanthawong said. "It was like a treat. We all like the coach and I would have been happy to follow him into the cave. I know he would do everything to keep us safe."
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