The 12-member Wild Boars soccer team and their coach rescued from a flooded cave pose with a drawing of Samarn Kunan, a former Thai navy diver who died working to rescue them at the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital and Ministry of Public Health/via REUTERS

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (Reuters) - The 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach rescued from a flooded cave left a hospital in the northern province of Chiang Rai on Wednesday for a news conference to be broadcast on national television, a Reuters witness said.

The boys, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach sparked an international rescue effort after they became trapped inside the flooded Tham Luang cave complex.