A former navy SEAL working to rescue boys trapped in cave in Thailand has died from lack of oxygen, Thai authorities said on Friday, 6 July.
SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookongkaew told a news conference Friday morning that the rescuer, Samarn Poonan, was working as a volunteer and died during an overnight mission in which he was placing oxygen canisters.
Thai authorities are racing to pump out water from a flooded cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since 23 June.
The Thai football team mysteriously went missing on 23 June after they went inside in Chiang Rai cave. The coach and the 12 boys were found alive after 10 days of searching, trapped inside the cave with minor injuries on them. Authorities have since tried multiple methods of rescuing the children but have failed due to bad weather and difficult terrain.
Thai navy SEAL divers and rescue workers from other countries had made initial progress through a narrow passageway early Monday, 2 July, after passing through a key chamber on Sunday whose high, murky waters had previously blocked their progress.
The rescue teams had been working on providing food and oxygen for the children while exploring various methods to get them out.
Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha thanked the international experts and rescuers who helped locate the missing for their "tremendous efforts."
This is a developing story.
(With Inputs from AP, Reuters.)
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