Thai cave rescue: Former Navy diver dies while exiting flooded tunnels





A former Thai Navy diver who had volunteered to help rescue 12 boys and their coach from a cave in northern Thailand has died, according to government officials.

Former Sgt. Samarn Kunan, an ex-SEAL, died at 2:00 a.m. Friday local time (2 p.m. Thursday ET) due to a lack of air while attempting to return to a command center deep underground, Deputy Governor Passakorn Boonyalak said.
The command center is located two kilometers (1.2 miles) inside the cave, where the young soccer team and their coach have been trapped for almost two weeks.



Kunan, who was in his mid-30s, was returning from delivering oxygen tanks to the cavern where the boys when are he ran out of air while underwater.
"Diving is always full of risks," Navy SEAL chief Rear Adm. Aphakorn Yookongkaew said. "He may have passed out," causing him to drown, "but we have to wait for the autopsy," he added.
A military aircraft will carry Unan's body from Chiang Rai to Satthahip Navy Base Friday evening. A funeral service will take place there, and then at his home town in the province of Roi Et, northern Thailand.





*salute*