A Thai marine died of a blood infection that he contracted while rescuing a football team from a flooded cave. The twelve amateur football players and their trainer were taken alive from the cave in July 2018 after about three weeks.
The condition of petty officer Beiret Bureerak deteriorated despite the treatments he underwent because of the infection. His death was announced by the Thai navy on Friday. With his death, the death toll on rescuing the football team rises to two.
A former diver of the navy was killed during the rescue. The man lost consciousness during an action to install oxygen tanks along the potential escape route. On the way back he became unwell because he no longer had enough compressed air.
Hundreds of people were involved in the rescue. Their job was to get the soccer team out of the cave. The children and their trainer had been detained for nine days when the emergency services discovered where they were.
The team got stuck in June 2018 during their visit to the cave because they were surprised by the rising water level. The water continued to rise during the complex rescue operation. Eventually the thirteen people were taken out of the cave one by one by divers.
The cave has been converted into a museum by the Thai authorities and has been open to the public since the beginning of November. Among other things, items from the rescue operation and photos from the rescue action are exhibited there.
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