One of 12 boys dramatically rescued after two weeks trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018 has died in Britain, where he was attending a soccer academy, his former teacher said on Wednesday.
Duangpetch Promthep, better known as “Dom”, was the captain of the “Wild Boars” team whose seemingly impossible extraction by international divers and Thai Navy SEALs garnered widespread worldwide attention.
The circumstances of the 17-year-old Duangpetch’s death were not immediately clear. The news was shared on social media by a Buddhist monk who taught children in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand.
“Duangpetch Promthep has now gone to another world,” Supatpong Methigo posted on Facebook. “I hope that he will be reborn and become my student again in the next life.”
Reuters could not independently confirm the death, which Supatpong said he learned about from Duangpetch’s grandmother, who said he had been in an unspecified accident in Britain.
Former Thai national team captain and coach Kiatisuk Senamuang, whose foundation helped Duangpetch win a scholarship to Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicestershire, described him as a polite and kind gentleman who dreamed of playing for his country.
“He wanted to see his dream come true… but now rest well, Dom,” he posted on Instagram.
In June 2018, the boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach, set out to explore the Tham Luang cave complex for just an hour, but ended up trapped by floodwaters.
They were found nine days later in a flooded chamber about 2 miles from the caves entrance. Its complicated extraction began six days later in an unprecedented operation during which a retired Thai diver died.
Once rescued, the boys were invited to attend a Manchester United match and their story was the subject of books, documentaries and films, most recently the Netflix series ‘Thai Cave Rescue’.
