This is not the first time a group of children has got lost in Thailand's Tham Luang cave, according to one local.
Intu Incharoen of Chiang Rai province told ABC News this week that he and a group of friends became lost in the cave complex 16 years ago - only to come across another group who was also lost.
For a frantic nine hours, the then 12-year-old Mr Incharoen and friends scrambled their way around the complex, somewhere close to where the Wild Boars soccer team are now stranded.
"There were very dangerous places around you - a cliff, rocks and it's very slippery," he told the ABC.
Mid-scramble, the friends encountered tourists from neighbouring Myanmar, initially thinking they were ghosts.
"Actually, the other group was lost too," Mr Intu said.
The two groups merged but before long, their touch batteries died and they lit a candle.
"Single-file, they marched through the blackness, each holding the shirt of the person in front," the ABC reported.
A family member shows a picture of four of the twelve missing boys near the Tham Luang cave, July 2, 2018. Source: Getty Images
Mr Intu said, "if the last light is gone it's not easy to walk".
"Like if you were … in your house, you know everything in your house, but if you close your eyes and you turn around two or three times you couldn't find the right way to go."
The group managed to find their way back out, emerging shaken but safe after the ordeal.
And Mr Incharoen said many other children in the area also used to visit the cave.
"Especially for the teenagers, at the weekend they want to explore - like mountains, rivers, or jungle - Tham Luang is the most favourite destination for the teenagers," Mr Intu said.
