It was such an amazing rescue. I don't think the general public at the time really understood how incredibly stuck they were. I mean at one point the best solution was really looking like waiting half a year until the monsoon season finishes. There was just no brute-force solution, they couldn't dig them out, they couldn't pump out the water, they couldn't find another way in.

the rescue included brute force as well as strategy. they had to run all their pumps just to keep the water levels near the entrance from rising too high for the rescue operation. they were basically fighting against the ever rising water levels just to keep them steady.