Rescue workers find 38th victim of Thai floods
Relatives check a name list of dead victims already recovered by rescuers following a flash flood in Thailand's southern Trang province, 15 April 2007. Rescue workers on Tuesday found the body of the last person missing after flash floods hit two waterfalls in southern Thailand, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to 38.(AFP/FIle/Tuwaedaniya Meringing)
Rescue workers on Tuesday found the body of the last person missing after flash floods hit two waterfalls in southern Thailand, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to 38.
Local police chief Colonel Sonthichai Awatanakulthep said that rescuers found the body of Yuwada Choosrirak, a 31-year-old woman, on Tuesday afternoon, three days after the floods stuck.
“We have already stopped searching for victims as no more people have been reported missing,” he told AFP.
Thirty-eight people were killed after torrents of water poured over two waterfalls on Saturday as families bathed or enjoyed picnics at the popular tourist sites in Trang province, 700 kilometres (440 miles) south of Bangkok.
Police had expressed hope of finding survivors, but since Sunday have pulled only bodies from the water. Hospital officials said that most of the victims were hit by rocks or drowned after the powerful water knocked them down.
Seventeen of the victims were children. One of the dead was from Laos, the authorities said on Sunday, while the rest were Thai.
More than 100 people were swimming in the waters when the flash floods struck Sairung and Prai Sawan waterfalls, which are about five kilometres apart and whose names translate as “rainbow” and “heavenly jungle.”
The waterfalls were particularly crowded because of the five-day Songkran holiday weekend celebrating Buddhist New Year, when Thais traditionally head home or into the countryside for some of the hottest days of the year.
Category: Thailand
