The bodies of 12 people found in a landslide in Phuket Province have been found. Officials are mobilizing to search for another missing person. Meanwhile, Chada Thaiset has visited the area to monitor the situation and ordered an inspection of the construction of buildings at the Big Buddha Temple, located on the Nak Kerd mountain range, after images emerged showing that the source of the landslide was a building at the temple.
Rescue workers from many units are still rushing to mobilize all their forces and heavy equipment to help search for the bodies of the missing people who are believed to be buried under mud and large rocks that were swept down from the Nak Kerd mountain range by the flash flood, which fell onto people’s houses about 300 meters away from the foot of the mountain. This morning, relatives came to inform the authorities to help search for more families, raising the number of missing people, which was originally reported as 1 person, to 3. However, a short while ago, authorities found 2 b
odies, leaving 1 person missing.
The search therefore had to be adjusted by expanding the search area from the original focus on the single-story rental house where the bodies of six Burmese and Thai people were found to further search the rental house and the villas near the mountainside. However, the search was difficult because there was mud, large trees, rocks, electric poles, and the remains of houses piled up together in large numbers. Officials used rescue dogs to help search for the missing persons.
This morning, Mr. Chatcha Thaiset, Deputy Minister of Interior, along with Mr. Sopon Suwannarat, Governor of Phuket Province, traveled to the scene of the incident. Mr. Chatcha stated that he felt sorry for the incident because there were many people who lost their lives. Initially, he ordered that all possible assistance and convenience be given to the relatives of the deceased. As for the bodies of foreigners, the consulate has been contacted to come and receive the bodies of the deceased.
While the s
hort-term prevention plan has ordered officials to warn people in all areas at risk of mudslides in Phuket during heavy rain, and to accelerate the construction of the flatway, including pushing the plan to create a Phuket risk map, together with 54 other provinces, to the cabinet as soon as possible, according to the plan that the province had previously proposed to Mr. Settha Thavisin when he came to inspect the flooding in Phuket 2 months ago, he confirmed that even though the prime minister has changed, it will continue without change.
Importantly, Mr. Chatchai also ordered the province to urgently inspect the construction of buildings on the Nak Kerd mountain range after locals in the area believed that the main reason for this incident was the construction of many buildings at Wat Phra Yai, located on the Nak Kerd mountain range, because the original condition of the area, which used to be a lush forest, had been changed. In the past, 10 years ago, there had been traces of a landslide during constructi
on, but not as severe as this time.
Source: Thai News Agency