Photo taken on July 8, 2018 shows that the first two boys are transfered to the field hospital after being brought out near the cave in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Four boys of 13 trapped in a northern Thailand cave have been brought out through an underwater evacuation, a member of the rescue team said on condition of anonymity Sunday. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)

CHIANG RAI, Thailand, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Four boys emerged from the cave in northern Thailand where 12 young footballers and their coach had been trapped for more than two weeks, an unnamed rescuer said on Sunday night.

The rescued boys were taken to a field hospital near the cave in Thailand's northern Chiang Rai Province. Helicopters were seen hovering above the cave site.

The source said the boys had been taken to hospital by the helicopters.

Some 13 foreign cave diving experts entered the cave to launch the rescue operation at 10 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Sunday. The boys and their coach would be dived out of the flooded cave.

The 12 footballers, aged between 11 and 16, and their coach, 25, went missing in the cave in Chiang Rai Province on June 23. They were located on a small cliff about four km away from the cave entrance when the search entered the ninth day on July 2.