Bangkok: A member of a rescue team that saved 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand last year has died from an infection he picked up during the operation, officials said on Saturday.

Petty officer Beirut Pakbara, a Thai Navy Seal, contracted a blood infection during the rescue at the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province. Beirut was under medical supervision but his condition worsened and he died on Friday, an official statement said.