A 17-year-old Thai man who was among 12 children stranded in a cave in Thailand for nine days before being rescued in 2018 has died in the UK after being hospitalized, concordant sources said on Wednesday.
Duangpetch Promthep, 17, was known in Thailand as the captain of the young football team "
Wild Boars
" which had been stuck, from June 23, 2018 and for some until July 10, in one of the most great caves of Thailand.
Suspected head injury
“
Very sad news to hear that Duangpetch Dom Promthep, the captain of the Thai football team rescued from a cave in 2018, has died in the UK,
” UK Ambassador to Thailand Mark Gooding tweeted. .
The survivors had not eaten anything, having just drunk rainwater for nine days.
The twelve children and their coach were eventually discovered by British divers four kilometers from the entrance, trapped in the waters suddenly rising due to monsoon rains.
The image of Duangpetch Promthep's smiling face at the time of the rescue went around the world.
Read alsoThailand: the drama of the “children of the cave” soon on Netflix
The teenager had been studying since last year at Brooke House College Football Academy, near Leicester in central England.
“
A dream come true
”, he reacted in August on Instagram.
“
Shortly after 1:00 p.m. on Sunday (February 12), the police were called to a boarding school (…) concerning the state of health of a student
,” local police told AFP.
The young man “
was taken to the hospital.
He has since died
,” police added, stressing that the teenager’s death “
is not being treated as suspicious
.”
Although the police do not specify the cause of his death, Thai media say he was injured in the head.
According to the BBC, he was found unconscious in his bedroom.
A Thai association, Zico Foundation, which had helped the teenager obtain the scholarship, expressed its condolences on Facebook, as did a former teammate who had also been rescued from the cave.