Discovery has commissioned a quick-do TV documentary about the rescue of the 12 Thailand boys and their 25-year old soccer coach that has gripped audiences worldwide the past two weeks and came to a conclusion on Tuesday when all of them were finally saved from the flooded cave where they've been trapped for weeks.
Operation Thai Cave Rescue is being produced by ITN Productions in the United Kingdom and will reveal how the children entered the cave near the Myanmar border and became trapped, how they managed to survive without food or knowing how to swim, as well as the scientific and technical innovations that were used in their rescue.
Operation Thai Rescue will be an hour long special that will so far be shown on the Discovery Channel and Science in America with Jon Bardin and Andrew O’Connell as executive producers for Discovery, and Ian Russell is executive producer for ITN Productions.
The documentary will include interviews with those involved in the rescue effort, including medical experts and cave diving instructors, explore the living conditions faced by the children who are between the ages of 11 and 16, and how the cave's unique geology - and being flooded - presented so many challenges.
A media enquiry was made to Discovery Networks International seeking clarity on whether Operation Thai Rescue would also be broadcast on the Discovery Channel (DStv 121) and Discovery Science (320) seen in South Africa and across Africa, but there's not been a definitive answer either way yet.
If there's a response from Discovery it will be updated here.
UPDATE Monday 16 July 17:00 - Discovery Networks says Operation Thai Rescue will now be shown on South Africa as well on the Discovery Channel (DStv 121) on Wednesday 18 July at 19:00.
