Overstroming Thaise berg: 21 doden
Minstens 27 doden bij aardverschuiving in Thailand
Bij een bodemverschuiving in het zuiden van Thailand zijn minstens 27 mensen omgekomen. Verschillende anderen zijn als vermiste opgegeven. Dat werd vernomen van de politie en uit medische bronnen.
De verschuiving vond plaats aan de populaire watervallen van Sairung, in de provincie Trang, op 700 kilometer van Bangkok. "Minstens 27 mensen zijn dood en we hebben gehoord dat andere lichamen binnenkort zullen aankomen", verklaarde de verantwoordelijke van een ziekenhuis. De vrouw voegde er aan toe niet te weten hoeveel personen vermist werden.
Het merendeel van de slachtoffers zijn vrouwen en kinderen. Voordien gaf de politie aan dat minstens veertien personen vermist waren. Een honderdtal vakantiegangers was naar de watervallen afgezakt om te genieten van vijf dagen verlof naar aanleiding van het boeddhistische nieuwjaar, dat gisteren inging.
(afp/hln)
Bij een bodemverschuiving in het zuiden van Thailand zijn minstens 27 mensen omgekomen. Verschillende anderen zijn als vermiste opgegeven. Dat werd vernomen van de politie en uit medische bronnen.
De verschuiving vond plaats aan de populaire watervallen van Sairung, in de provincie Trang, op 700 kilometer van Bangkok. "Minstens 27 mensen zijn dood en we hebben gehoord dat andere lichamen binnenkort zullen aankomen", verklaarde de verantwoordelijke van een ziekenhuis. De vrouw voegde er aan toe niet te weten hoeveel personen vermist werden.
Het merendeel van de slachtoffers zijn vrouwen en kinderen. Voordien gaf de politie aan dat minstens veertien personen vermist waren. Een honderdtal vakantiegangers was naar de watervallen afgezakt om te genieten van vijf dagen verlof naar aanleiding van het boeddhistische nieuwjaar, dat gisteren inging.
(afp/hln)
Every cloud has a silver lining
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Trang - Rescue efforts continued on Sunday for a missing woman, the only person still unaccounted for after flash floods killed 37 tourists who were cooling off in two waterfalls in southern Thailand.
Authorities resumed the hunt at dawn after torrents of water poured over the waterfalls Saturday afternoon in Trang, a seaside province 700 kilometres (440 miles) south of Bangkok.
However, only bodies and no survivors were pulled from the water Sunday, with local hospital officials reporting that 17 of the dead were children.
Trang governor Anan Manasvanich said all 37 of the victims had been identified and vowed to continue the search until the last person was accounted for.
"The two rescue teams of 150 are still working to find the last missing person. We will continue until we find the last missing one," he told AFP.
Anxious relatives had earlier gathered by the waterfalls as police divers and rescue workers in life jackets scoured the river for survivors and victims of the flash flooding, which police said was caused by heavy rain.
"We are still searching in the hope of finding survivors -- we do have hope left," local police chief Colonel Sonthichai Awatanakulthep said earlier.
More than 100 people were swimming in the waters when the torrents struck Sairung and Prai Sawan waterfalls, which are about five kilometres apart and whose names translate as "rainbow" and "heavenly jungle".
They are popular tourist spots surrounded by picturesque forest, and 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.
Sinchai Rongdej, hospital director at Yantakhao district, where the waterfalls are located, said most of the victims were Thai. One of the victims was identified as an 18-year-old Laos national.
The dead included 17 women, three men, 11 boys and six girls, and Sinchai said they were killed when the powerful water knocked them over.
"More than 90 percent of the dead were hit by rocks after they fell in the force of the flash flood," he added. "Almost all of them had wounds on their heads and their faces."
About 29 people were injured in the floods, the health ministry said, with all since being discharged from hospital.
Some distraught relatives gathered at Yantakhao Hospital where authorities posted lists of the dead, while others preferred to wait in hope at the scene of the tragedy.
Anan said that the province would pay relatives of the dead between 15 000 and 40 000 baht (460 and 1 230 dollars) in compensation, depending on family responsibilities and number of dependants. - Sapa-AFP
©www.iol.co.za
Trang - Rescue efforts continued on Sunday for a missing woman, the only person still unaccounted for after flash floods killed 37 tourists who were cooling off in two waterfalls in southern Thailand.
Authorities resumed the hunt at dawn after torrents of water poured over the waterfalls Saturday afternoon in Trang, a seaside province 700 kilometres (440 miles) south of Bangkok.
However, only bodies and no survivors were pulled from the water Sunday, with local hospital officials reporting that 17 of the dead were children.
Trang governor Anan Manasvanich said all 37 of the victims had been identified and vowed to continue the search until the last person was accounted for.
"The two rescue teams of 150 are still working to find the last missing person. We will continue until we find the last missing one," he told AFP.
Anxious relatives had earlier gathered by the waterfalls as police divers and rescue workers in life jackets scoured the river for survivors and victims of the flash flooding, which police said was caused by heavy rain.
"We are still searching in the hope of finding survivors -- we do have hope left," local police chief Colonel Sonthichai Awatanakulthep said earlier.
More than 100 people were swimming in the waters when the torrents struck Sairung and Prai Sawan waterfalls, which are about five kilometres apart and whose names translate as "rainbow" and "heavenly jungle".
They are popular tourist spots surrounded by picturesque forest, and 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.
Sinchai Rongdej, hospital director at Yantakhao district, where the waterfalls are located, said most of the victims were Thai. One of the victims was identified as an 18-year-old Laos national.
The dead included 17 women, three men, 11 boys and six girls, and Sinchai said they were killed when the powerful water knocked them over.
"More than 90 percent of the dead were hit by rocks after they fell in the force of the flash flood," he added. "Almost all of them had wounds on their heads and their faces."
About 29 people were injured in the floods, the health ministry said, with all since being discharged from hospital.
Some distraught relatives gathered at Yantakhao Hospital where authorities posted lists of the dead, while others preferred to wait in hope at the scene of the tragedy.
Anan said that the province would pay relatives of the dead between 15 000 and 40 000 baht (460 and 1 230 dollars) in compensation, depending on family responsibilities and number of dependants. - Sapa-AFP
©www.iol.co.za
Every cloud has a silver lining
