00:43 Dangerous Dive May be Trapped Thai Soccer Team’s Only Option Officials are racing against the clock to get the trapped boys and their coach out of a flooded cave.

At a Glance The 38-year-old volunteer died after losing consciousness in a passageway on his way out of the cave.

Saman Gunan was considered a highly trained diver.

His death highlights the difficulties facing authorities as they contemplate ways to rescue the team.

A former Thai Navy SEAL has died while on a mission to take supplies to a soccer team that has been trapped in a flooded cave for nearly two weeks.

Petty Officer Saman Gunan, 38, died from a lack of oxygen after losing consciousness in a passageway on his way out of the Tham Luang cave complex, the BBC reports. He had been supplying air tanks to the trapped boys and their soccer coach when he died.

During a news conference, SEAL commander Arpakorn Yookongkaew said efforts to revive Gunan failed. He had been working as a volunteer.

Gunan was considered a highly trained diver, which highlights the difficulties facing rescuers as they contemplate ways to free the team from the cave before more heavy rains flood the cave system again.

One suggestion for extraction was to teach the boys how to dive out of the cave. That plan was dropped after rescuers realized the 12 boys, ages 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach are too weak and too inexperienced to attempt the harrowing journey out of the cave.

Authorities are now pumping water out of the cave in the hope they can get the boys out before a new deluge of monsoonal rains hits the region over the weekend. The plan is to create enough headspace in the passageway to allow the boys to keep their heads above water rather than rely entirely on diving gear, the Associated Press reports.

In preparation for a possible extraction, the boys have been practicing using gear and masks.

(MORE: Cave Rescue Running Out of Time Before Storms Return )

The team has been trapped in a chamber of the cave system since June 23. They became trapped when a deluge of monsoonal rains flooded the cave. After an exhaustive 10-day search, the boys and their coach were located about 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave. They appear to be healthy and have sent video messages to their families.

Since locating the boys, diving teams have transported food and other supplies via the same passageway, now underwater, that the team used to enter the cave.

Some experts have suggested the team stay in place until flooding subsides, which could mean months.