Tourists die in Thai cave floods
Deze foto is niet meer beschikbaar
Six Western tourists and two Thai guides have died after being swept away by flash floods in Thailand while exploring a cave, police have said.
The group were trekking through the Khao Sok national park, in Surat Thani province, when heavy rainfall caused the water level in the cave to rise.
The authorities have not identified the nationalities of those drowned and a seventh group member is still missing.
The dead were identified as three women, two men and a child.
District official Sitichai Thaicharoen told news agency AFP that one of those drowned was reported to be a German boy.
He said a rescue team was still searching for the missing member of the group, possibly a man.
'Signs'
The victims were trekking through the national park, which lies 650km (400 miles) south of Bangkok, late on Saturday afternoon when the heavy rainfall caused flash floods sending water surging in the cave, which was near a waterfall, according to police Lt Col Pichan Kanayasiri.
A Belgian tourist was killed by a flash flood in the same cave several years ago.
The province's governor, Winai Phopradit, told the Associated Press news agency he had ordered the national park to close during the current rainy season.
"We have signs both in English and Thai warning tourists not to go into the cave during heavy rains," he said.
©BCC
Six Western tourists and two Thai guides have died after being swept away by flash floods in Thailand while exploring a cave, police have said.
The group were trekking through the Khao Sok national park, in Surat Thani province, when heavy rainfall caused the water level in the cave to rise.
The authorities have not identified the nationalities of those drowned and a seventh group member is still missing.
The dead were identified as three women, two men and a child.
District official Sitichai Thaicharoen told news agency AFP that one of those drowned was reported to be a German boy.
He said a rescue team was still searching for the missing member of the group, possibly a man.
'Signs'
The victims were trekking through the national park, which lies 650km (400 miles) south of Bangkok, late on Saturday afternoon when the heavy rainfall caused flash floods sending water surging in the cave, which was near a waterfall, according to police Lt Col Pichan Kanayasiri.
A Belgian tourist was killed by a flash flood in the same cave several years ago.
The province's governor, Winai Phopradit, told the Associated Press news agency he had ordered the national park to close during the current rainy season.
"We have signs both in English and Thai warning tourists not to go into the cave during heavy rains," he said.
©BCC
Every cloud has a silver lining
