First video shows Thai boys in hospital after dramatic cave rescue

A day after Thai boys rescued from a flooded cave, a video footage of them recuperating in hospital has surfaced.

In the video, several of the "Wild Boars" football team can be seen in the hospital, after being rescued from the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand in a three-day operation which ended successfully on Tuesday.

Several boys can be seen in facemasks and hospital gowns, giving a victory sign for the camera.

Meanwhile, media reports say the boys and the coach were sedated to stop them panicking during the dangerous rescue.

Former Navy seal Chaiyananta Peeranarong told AFP news agency: "Some of them were asleep, and some of them were wiggling their fingers, kind of groggy - but they were breathing. My job was to transfer them along."

Aged between 11 and 16 years old, the 12 members of the Wild Boar soccer team and their 25-year-old coach were trapped in the Tham Luang network of caves in Northern Thailand.

They were found on July 2 by British divers after being stuck in a deep chamber in the cave system, dubbed as 'Pattaya Beach', for nine days.

On Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump had also congratulated the Thai navy Seals for the "successful" rescue operation.

"On behalf of the United States, congratulations to the Thai Navy SEALs and all on the successful rescue of the 12 boys and their coach from the treacherous cave in Thailand. Such a beautiful moment - all freed, great job!" Trump tweeted.

The rescue operation, which commenced on Sunday, was carried out in three phases.

On Sunday, it took 11 hours to bring out four persons. A second rescue operation was carried out the following day by the same team of divers, and took only nine hours to bring out the next four, the report said.

All eight boys were rescued by divers using guide ropes and shared oxygen tanks.

Further, three boys were rescued on Tuesday morning, while the remaining two, along with their coach, were rescued later in the day.

All are being treated in a Chiang Rai hospital in an isolation ward. The rescued boys are said to be in "high spirits."

With inputs form ANI