Captain of Thai football team rescued from cave dies in the UK aged 17

The captain of a Thai football team that was trapped in a cave for two weeks in 2018 has died in the UK.

Duangpetch Promthep was one of 12 boys who became trapped in Tham Luang cave while exploring in Chiang Rai province.

He is reported to have sustained a head injury but it is not confirmed if this was the cause of death.

Promthep was the captain of the Wild Boars (Moo Pa in Thai) football team that ventured into the Tham Luang cave on 23 June 2018 and became trapped by a flash flood that blocked their only exit.

12 boys became trapped in Tham Luang cave while exploring in Chiang Rai province

(REUTERS)

His mother informed the Wat Doi Wao temple in his home town in Chiang Rai of his death, which posted a tribute to the teenager on Facebook on Wednesday, saying: “May Dom’s soul rest in peace” alongside pictures of the football team with monks.

Zico Foundation, a Thai non-profit that had helped Promthep win a scholarship to study in England, also expressed condolences on Facebook.

Promthep was 13 at the time of the cave rescue, while his teammates were aged between 11 and 16.

The boys used rocks to dig holes to escape the cave, while their coach taught them meditation techniques to help them stay calm and use as little air as possible. Divers sent them food and letters from their family even as they planned the rescue.

The boys used rocks to dig holes to escape the cave

(AFP via Getty Images)

Most of the boys had lost two kilograms, and at least two had lung infections, while one person had to be carried out on a stretcher.

Assistant coach Ekkapol Chanthawong was emaciated, after sacrificing his share of what food they had.

The rescue effort involved nearly 100 Thai and foreign divers who sedated the boys with the drug ketamine before rescuing them after 18 days trapped in the cave.

Tham Luang is Thailand’s fourth biggest cave system, stretching over 10 kilometres, and was one of the team’s favourite haunts.

The news of the teenagers death was broken on Facebook by a Buddhist monk named Supatpong Methigo said they were informed of his death by his grandmother.

The monk claimed that Promthep hit his head and could not be saved. They said: ‘Duangphet Phromthep has gone to a good place.’

Phromthep enrolled in the Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicestershire late last year when he was 17.

He regularly shared pictures of his life in the UK on his social media channels, including photos of him celebrating a “very cold first Christmas in the UK.”

The rescue made headlines around the world, and since 2018 it has been adapted into books and films, as well as a six-episode miniseries released by Netflix last year.

All the football team members were found safe despite surviving over a week without food.

However, one rescuer died during the effort. Saman Kunan, a 37-year-old former Thai Navy Seal, died of asphyxiation during the rescue operation while delivering oxygen to the trapped football team.

A brinze statue of Kunan was erected in December 2018 at the Wat Rongkhun temple.