Former Thai Navy SEAL dies during rescue effort of boys trapped in cave

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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Rescuers inside the cave.
(Image credit: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images)

A former Thai Navy SEAL died early Friday morning while helping with the rescue effort of 12 soccer players and their coach from a cave in Thailand.

The man, identified as Samarn Kunan, 38, ran out of oxygen while diving; a volunteer, he had been placing air tanks in the cave to prepare for a potential rescue mission, The Guardian reports. The children and their coach have been in the cave for more than a week, and Thai officials are discussing rescue options, including having experienced divers go down and guide everyone out.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.