BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Thai football manager and former player Kiatisuk 'Zico' Senamuang offered updates on the sudden death in Britain of one of the 12 boys rescued from a cave in Chiang Rai in 2018.
Duangphet 'Dom' Promthep, 18, (pic), one of the 12 members of the Wild Boar football team who was rescued after being trapped in Tham Luang Cave in 2018, reportedly collapsed and died on Tuesday (Feb 14).
After being rescued from the cave, Duangphet went to Chiang Mai to study sports and later received a scholarship to study in Britain.
During a Zoom conference, Kiatisuk, who is currently in Vietnam as coach of Hoang Anh Gia Lai football team, said Duangphet lost consciousness in his dormitory room on Sunday. He added that a teacher at the dormitory got him admitted in a hospital.
“On Tuesday, medical staff at the hospital told the Royal Thai Embassy in UK that Duangphet's breathing had stopped and his body was not responding to treatment," Kiatisuk said.
He said the embassy had informed Duangphet's parents, but they were waiting to know the cause of death.
Kiatisuk confirmed that Duangphet was healthy, as he had taken a physical examination before going to study abroad. Kiatisuk vowed to do his best to bring Duangphet's body back to Thailand.
"Duangphet went to Britain around September last year as he wanted to study at a university there,” he said.
Kiatisuk posted a message on Duangphet's Instagram mourning his death on Thursday, saying that Duangphet was a good student, polite and considerate.
He added that Duangphet had nurtured a dream to become a professional football player and wanted to make it to Thailand’s national team.
In June 2018, the world was transfixed for 17 days as an elaborate international mission unfolded to rescue 12 members of the Wild Boars football team and their coach after they were trapped by rising water in the Chiang Rai cave system.
The 200-metre-deep Chamber 1, which visitors use to enter the complex, was the command centre for a rescue operation led by Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn and Thai Navy Seals. Duangphet was part of the second group of boys carried out of the cave on July 9.
The Wild Boars have since become celebrities, depicted in a series of films and documentaries about their ordeal.
