Rescuers are planning the second phase of the massive rescue mission after four boys were pulled from the Thai cave.
Four of the 12 schoolboys were rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand on Sunday before the operation commenced a 10-hour pause to replenish oxygen supplies.
Amid scenes of jubilation near the Tham Luang Cave, head of the rescue operation Narongsak Osottanakorn told SBS News that officials were reassessing oxygen and other supplies before they evacuate the next batch of boys and their coach.
He also said authorities were "assessing [the] health of [the] children".
Eight boys and the coach remain trapped underground.
The plight of the group has transfixed Thailand and the rest of the world, as authorities struggled to locate them and then devise a plan to get the boys and their coach out.
'A great success'
In a press conference, Narongsak said the four who escaped were "safe" but released few details about their condition or identities.
"Today was the best situation – in terms of kids' health, water and our rescue readiness," he said.
Narongsak said the operation had proceeded hours faster than expected, adding that it was "a great success".
The rescue teams needed about 10 hours to prepare for their next operation, involving about 90 divers in total, 50 of them from foreign countries, he said.
"Our job is not completely done ... We will have to do the next mission as successfully as the one we did today. The rest of the kids are in the same spot."
Dark, narrow passageways
Rescuing the remaining boys and coach could take two to four days, and depended on the weather, an army commander involved in the mission said.
To escape, the boys must dive through dark, narrow passageways sometimes no more than two feet (0.6 metre) wide, that have challenged some of the world's leading cave divers.
Authorities have said it takes roughly 11 hours to do a round-trip from the cave entrance to where the boys are huddled on a muddy bank.
An Australian doctor who is part of Sunday's rescue mission checked the health of the boys on Saturday night and gave the all-clear for the rescue to proceed.
Dr Richard Harris, an anaesthetist from Adelaide, went into the cave at the specific request of Thai authorities.
According to the website OzTek, Dr Harris is an underwater photographer who have dived for over 30 years.
US President Donald Trump said the United States was working "very closely" with the Thai government to free the
boys.
"Very brave and talented people!" he tweeted.
