A Facebook picture from the scene showed joyful relatives clustered near the cave looking at a photograph on an iPad taken by one of the divers that showed four of the boys smiling and appearing to be in good health.

A Thai named Koenpetch tweeted: "Since the news broke that children were trapped in the cave, everybody's been looking at their phones and their tablets. We've been following the news, and I'm very glad, everybody's very glad, that they have found them.

"But our mission is not completed … so far we've just found them. Now we have to bring them out and get them home," the governor added.

Aisha Wiboonrungrueng, the mother of 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungrueng, smiled and hugged her family as news of the discovery spread, The Nation reported. She said she would wait until her son returned home and cook him Thai omelet, his favorite food.

Contact the writers through liuxuan@chinadaily.com.cn