The entire Thai soccer team has now been safely rescued from the cave

After being trapped for nearly three weeks, all 12 boys of a youth soccer team and their coach have been safely freed from a flooded cave in Thailand.

Thai Navy SEALS pulled the last remaining team members and their 25-year-old coach out of the cave on a third and final rescue mission Tuesday evening, local time.

Three boys rescued Tuesday have been transported to an area hospital to recover, joining eight of their teammates who were saved during earlier rescue missions. Doctors are treating the last boy to be rescued and his coach at an on-site medical facility.

What started out as an innocent post-practice exploration quickly turned into a harrowing ordeal when rising floodwater cut off the exit to the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system that the soccer team had entered. The young boys and their coach became stranded in the flooded cave on Saturday, June 23, but were not found until early last week.

For the last few days, the world watched with bated breath as Thai Navy SEALS worked to save the soccer team and their young coach. The complicated three-day rescue operation turned into a huge international effort that involved experts from the United States, China, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Now, finally, all the boys and their coach are safe.