A Thai Navy Seal who helped rescue 12 boys from a flooded cave has died from an infection he picked up during the mission.

Sergeant Beiret Bureerak was being treated for a blood infection in the months since the rescue; however, his condition worsened and he died yesterday.

The Royal Thai Navy has offered its deepest condolences to his family.

He is the Navy’s second casualty from the rescue. Lieutenant Commander Saman Gunan died during the 2018 mission.

The Wild Boars football team – aged between 11 and 16-years-old – were trapped along with their coach in the Tham Luang cave system in Chiang Rai province after they went exploring in June 2018.

The search and rescue mission grabbed international headlines with divers from around the world taking part.

The group was found alive after ten days, having survived on water dripping from rocks.

Rescuers then faced a race against time to get them out safely before the onset of Monsoon rains that would have flooded the network.

The group was eventually freed 18 days after originally entering the caves.