17 months since the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from the Tham Luamg Nang Non cave in northern Thailand, the incident has claimed its second victim—a Thai navy seal who was part of the rescue team.
Petty officer Beiret Bureerak on Friday died from a blood infection he contracted during the operation. A statement released by the Royal Thai Navy confirmed that he had been receiving treatment, but that his condition worsened.
This takes the death toll from the incident to two, the other victim also being a rescue diver, Saman Kunan, sent to bring the kids and their coach three tanks of life-saving air. Kunan died on his way back, as he lost consciousness while still underwater.
Kunan was hailed as a hero and posthumously awarded a seven-rank promotion and the Knight Grand (first class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant. Plans are ongoing for a memorial statue of him at the site, to be built by national artists Chalermchai Kositpipat.
The boys and their football coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, spent ten days in the cave before rescuers made contact with them, without food and with declining oxygen, hoping against hope that they would make it out. The entire ordeal including the operation to rescue them took 18 days.
The incident mobilised global attention as experts and divers from around the world mobilised to the rescue. The final operation included 13 international divers and five Thai military SEALs, as well as technical assistance from dozens of countries.
The boys, from the Wild Boar Academy, received Thai citizenship after it emerged that a few of them were stateless. The cave is expected to be turned into a ‘living museum’ as a testimony to the historic rescue operation.
