Duangpetch Promthep, one of the 12 boys rescued from a Thai cave in 2018, has died in the UK.
The cause of death is not clear, but the teenager suffered a head injury.
He joined Brookhouse College Football Academy in Leicestershire late last year when he was 17.
Promthup was the captain of the Thai boys’ soccer team, who had been stranded with his coach for two weeks in Chiang Rai province.
His mother reported to the Wat Doi Waw temple in her hometown of Chiang Rai, which the team frequented. Some of his colleagues from Cave Rescue have also shared this news on their social media accounts.
The temple posted a condolence message for Promthep – also known as Doom – on Facebook on Wednesday. “May Dom’s soul rest in peace,” said the post, which included photos of the soccer team with the monks.
The Zico Foundation, a Thai non-profit that helped Promthup win a scholarship to study in England, also expressed its condolences on Facebook.
Promthep was part of the Wild Boars (Mo Pa in Thai) football team, which entered Tham Luang Cave on 23 June 2018 and was later trapped by rising flood waters.
He was 13 at the time, while his peers were between 11 and 16.
The boys and their coach surfaced two weeks later, after a dramatic search and rescue effort involving about 100 Thai and foreign divers. They were saved by a drug called ketamine.
Tham Luang is Thailand’s fourth largest cave system and was one of the team’s favorite spots.
The rescue made headlines around the world, and various films and books have since been made to retell the extraordinary story, including a six-episode miniseries released by Netflix last year.
