Diver dies during Thai cave rescue operation
Bangkok, July 6 : A former Thai Navy diver who joined an ongoing operation to rescue 12 boys and their coach from a cave in northern Thailand died on Friday.
Saman Gunan, 38, lost consciousness on his way out of the Tham Luang cave complex after delivering supplies and could not be revived, reports the BBC.
"His job was to deliver oxygen. He did not have enough on his way back," said an official.
The diver had left the navy but returned to help the rescue operation.
"A former SEAL who volunteered to help died at around 2 a.m.," Chiang Rai Deputy Governor Passakorn Boonyaluck told reporters at the rescue site.
Gunan, said to be an avid runner and cyclist, was part of the massive ongoing operation which to rescue the boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old coach.
The boys went missing on June 23 after they had entered the cave in the Chiang Rai region during fine weather but became trapped when a sudden downpour flooded the narrow tunnels.
Around 1,000 people are involved in the rescue operations, including navy divers, military personnel and civilian volunteers, the BBC reported.
They were found on Monday night on a rock shelf about 4 km from the mouth of the cave by two British rescuer divers.
The cave complex is regularly flooded during the monsoon season which lasts until September or October.
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BJP names 9 candidates for RS polls, party chief Nitin Nabin to contest from Bihar
New Delhi (PTI): BJP national president Nitin Nabin was on Tuesday nominated as the party's candidate from Bihar for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released a list of nine candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, fielding its former West Bengal unit chief Rahul Sinha and Chhattisgarh unit vice-president Laxmi Verma from the respective states.
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Assam PWD Minister Jogen Mohan and MLA Terash Gowalla will be the saffron party's candidates for the elections to the Upper House of Parliament from the state.
The BJP has also nominated its Odisha unit president, Manmoham Samal, and leader Sujit Kumar, an incumbent Rajya Sabha MP, as candidates from the state for the upcoming polls.
BJP leader Shivesh Kumar will join the fray from Bihar and Sanjay Bhatia, a former Lok Sabha MP of the party, will be its candidate from Haryana. Kumar is Bihar BJP's general secretary.
The names of the candidates have been approved by the party's central election committee, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said.
