Duangphet Phromthep, rescued from Thai cave in 2018, dies

BANGKOK, Thailand — One of 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018 after being trapped for more than two weeks has died in the UK, where he was attending a sports academy. sponsor for his studies said Wednesday.

Duangphet “Dom” Phromthep, 17, was found unconscious in his room on Sunday at Brooke House University Football Academy in Leicestershire and taken to hospital, where he died on Tuesday, the Organization Zico of Thailand said. The school also confirmed his death.

Principal Ian Smith said in a statement: “This event has left our university community deeply saddened and traumatized. because everyone is affected by this loss in Thailand and in the entire global family of the university.”

The head of the Zico Foundation, former captain and coach of the Thai national team Kiatisuk Senamuang, said in an online press conference that he did not know the cause of death and that Dom was clearly in good health.

Dom is the captain of the Wild Boars, a youth soccer team in the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai. Twelve members of the 11- to 16-year-old team and their coach were exploring the Tham Luang cave complex in June 2018 when they became stranded due to rapidly rising floodwaters. A large-scale search and rescue operation has been launched with the participation of international divers.

The boys had spent nine nights lost in the cave, living on little food and water, before a diver discovered them deep within the cave complex that snakes on a patch of land above the waterline. rise high. The moment was captured on video and soon broadcast to the world.

It took another eight days before all were safely rescued. A team of skilled divers guided the boys out of the cave one by one on special stretchers after anesthesia so they were calm enough to transport. The activity requires placing oxygen canisters along the path that divers navigate through dark, narrow and twisting passages filled with muddy water and strong currents.

Dom’s mother, who participated in the online press conference, said she hoped a Buddhist monk in the UK could conduct rituals for Dom so that his soul would not be trapped in the place where he died. Buddhist threshold.

The story of the Wild Boar, which has been widely covered by international media, has been told in a number of films, including Ron Howard’s 2022 feature film “Thirteen Lives” and the 2021 documentary “The Tournament” rescue”.