Thai boys and their coach trapped in a cave for 13 days are not well enough to attempt escape, medical assessment concludes

A medical assessment of the 12 boys and their football coach stuck in a cave in Northern Thailand for 13 days has concluded that it is too dangerous to try to move the group out Thursday, according to a member of the Thai Navy Seals. 

The Seals have also started to pump oxygen into the chamber as world lead rescue workers keep racing against the clock to save the 13 members of the Thai soccer team who have been trapped in the flooded cave for 13 days now.

According to reports, some parts of the cave have been completely flooded, making them impassable at the moment. Rescuers will have to carry them out past those flooded points and some of the openings leading out of the cave are only as big as a single human being.

With some of the boys medically unfit, it will be hard to carry them past those very small openings with almost no visibility. Also, mind you, most of the journey out of the flooded cave will be made under rushing water, in the cold, and it could take hours, something the trapped boys are not strong enough for.

Huge volumes of water are being pumped out of the cave complex each day, but the narrow, winding passages inside are still flooded, meaning diving through the murky water is currently the only way in and out. Rescuers entering the cave complex located in northern Thailand have to navigate dark, flooded tunnels for six hours to reach the team. It takes another five hours to return to the entrance.

Separately, a new doctor's report highlighted that two of the boys and the coach were suffering with exhaustion from malnutrition.

Fresh details of the operation underway at the Tham Luang Nang Non to free the team were emerging on Thursday, as rescuers pushed ahead with multiple plans to help free the group trapped underground for almost two weeks.

Despite spending so long underground, Chiang Rai governor Narongsak Osottanakorn said Thursday the boys were in good spirits.

"I confirm here again that they are in good health and they are smiling and playing around," he said.

The last images the world saw of the boys was on Wednesday in a video where they introduced themselves one-by-one, saying "I am healthy."

Since they were found late Monday local time by a duo of British expert cave divers, Thai Navy SEALs have stayed with the team, tending minor wounds and giving them food to build up their strength. Thai Navy SEALs are also teaching them how to scuba dive.

More photos of the rescuers below.