On 23 June, 12 boys went exploring in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province with their football coach – and ended up trapped deep inside a cave underneath a mountain. The BBC’s Helier Cheung and Tessa Wong were at the scene as a dramatic rescue bid gripped the world.
What happened over those two weeks is a remarkable story of friendship, human endurance – and the lengths some people will go to save someone else’s child.
Here our reporters tell the full story of the Wild Boars.
The birthday party that went wrong
It all began with a birthday.
On Saturday 23 June, Peerapat “Night” Sompiangjai turned 17 – a milestone most young people around the world would want to celebrate in style.
His family had prepared a bright yellow SpongeBob SquarePants birthday cake and several colourfully wrapped presents at their home in a rural village in Mae Sai district.
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