The captain of the young "Wild Boars" football team rescued from a flooded Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai in 2018 has passed away in the United Kingdom.
The death of Duangphet "Dom'' Phromthep, 17, came as a shock to his family and friends.
The cause of death was unclear, but unconfirmed reports in the British media said he sustained a head injury. He had signed up for the Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicester, England, last year.
Social media was inundated with messages of grief and sympathy after the news broke yesterday. The Zico Foundation posted a message and a photo of Duangphet, or Nong Dom, who received a scholarship to the football academy from the foundation.
Phra Khu Prayut Jetiyanukarn, abbot of Wat Phra That Doi Wao in Chiang Rai, said Duangphet's mother phoned him around 6am to say her son had died.
The abbot said initial reports were that Duangphet was injured in a fall. He was admitted to hospital and put on a ventilator but later died. The family is in touch with the Foreign Affairs Ministry and details will be announced later.
Relatives in tambon Wiang Phang Kham told reporters they were informed the boy had been injured in an accident that led to his death. Details would be released by the football academy in England, they said.
Duangphet was the captain of the Wild Boars football team whose rescue from the flooded cave captured the attention of the world in 2018. He won the scholarship to study at the football academy in Leicestershire in August last year.
Duangphet posted a message on his Instagram account after receiving the scholarship. "Today, my dream has come true because I will become a football student in England," he said.
In June and July 2018, Thai and international rescue teams mounted an operation to rescue 12 local footballers aged between 11 and 16 and their 25-year-old coach from the flooded Luang cave in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district.
They became trapped after they went to explore the underground complex on June 23 after football practice.
They were unable to leave when a sudden storm flooded the cave and spent 17 days underground before being found by two British divers.
Duangphet was the boy who first shouted out to the rescuers for help. He was then 13. A complex and dangerous rescue followed. One Thai rescuer died in the operation.
Eakapol Jantawong, the Wild Boars' ex-coach, took to Facebook to say Dom would live on in everyone's memories. He also extended his condolences to the boy's family.