Fidel Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Six foreign tourists killed in Thai flash flood 1 hour ago BANGKOK (AFP) â?? Six foreign tourists, including a German, and their two Thai guides died when a flash flood engulfed their cave in southern Thailand, officials said Sunday. A district official said the other victims may be from Germany, Switzerland or Britain but that information on their identities was still sketchy. Seven holidaymakers were trekking with their guides on Saturday in Kao Sok National Park in the province of Surat Thani, 645 kilometres (400 miles) south of Bangkok, when heavy rain caused a stream in the cave to rise suddenly. A 17-year-old woman survived and was rescued on Sunday, district official Sitichai Thaicharoen said. He said the bodies of the rest of the group have been pulled from the water and authorities were trying to identify those who drowned. "The bodies of two Thai guides and six foreign tourists, including a German boy, were found," Sitichai said. A German woman told authorities her 16-year-old son was among the group, he said. "The rescue mission is complete. From now the authorities are in the process of identifying who the victims were and contacting their embassies," he added. Colonel Akom Saisamai, a local police chief, said the tourists did not have their passports on them, hampering the identification process. Local television channels showed images of rescuers carrying body bags from a boat overnight and laying them out on the shore. Kao Sok National Park covers two inland districts in Surat Thani. Its large lake, thick rainforest, limestone cliffs and numerous caves make it a popular destination for trekkers, with 20,830 tourists visiting the park in 2006, a Surat Thani provincial tourism website said. Thailand's tourism industry took another recent hit when 54 foreigners and 36 Thais died in a plane crash on the resort island of Phuket last month. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted October 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Some reports are saying 7 now. This vindicates my position on caving in South East Asia. There's a cave in Vang Vieng, Laos, with a river flowing through it. You're given a shitty head light, which works some of the time, and sent crawling into the f***king thing, then hanging on to a rope and pulling yourself through an underground stream with 20 tourists in front of you and 20 behind! No thanks.... I was one of the first to turn back and splash in the pool at the mouth of the cave instead... chincken shit that I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Bangkok Post 14 Oct 2007 Sole survivor of tourist flood tragedy found SURAT THANI - The remaining female German tourist who went missing Saturday after being trapped during a tragic flash flood in a cave in this southern province was found alive Sunday at midday. The as yet unidentified woman was one of a group of German holidaymakers who traveled by boat from the dam to the cave in Ban Ta Khun district national park on Saturday. They were accompanied by the two local guides. All the others in the tour group were confirmed dead. The cave became flooded following a heavy downpour that began about an hour before the vacationers began their journey. All were then trapped by rapidly rising water in the cave. The bodies of five German tourists, including three children, and the two local guides were located late Saturday night, and the corpse of another German man was recovered Sunday morning from inside the cave, local officials said. The only survivor - quite weary from her ordeal - was immediately sent to a nearby hospital. The bodies of the dead tourists were sent to a pier at the dam before dawn Sunday morning before being taken to hospital in the district for an autopsy, officials said. (TNA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 I am with you ..no way just scary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 from the 6 victims 4 are a family of Switzerland, 1 German and 1 Brit Bangkok Post: Six European tourists killed in Thai cave flood Bangkok - A cave flood in southern Thailand killed six European tourists and their two Thai guides, with only one British woman surviving the 20-hour ordeal, park officials said Sunday. Heavy rains inundated Nam Talu Cave in Koh Sok National Park of Surat Thani, about 400 kilometres south of Bangkok, while the seven tourists were visiting the popular site with two Thai tour guides Saturday afternoon, said park deputy chief Thirayudh Mungpaisan. Rescue workers retrieved eight bodies from the cave, including those of the two Thai tour guides, four Swiss nationals, one Briton and a German boy, Thirayudh told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. British national Helena Christina Carroll, 21, was found alive around noon on Sunday after spending nearly 20 hours trapped in the flooded cave. "The flood waters had taken her up to the roof of the cave and when the water receded she was stuck up there and couldn't get down," said Thirayudh. "When she heard the rescuers she called for help and they found her." Originally the group was thought to comprise only German tourists as the Swiss nationals were German-speakers, said Thirayudh. Police identified the foreign victims as a Swiss family including Benno Fisher, 49, Stalder Fisher, 48, Ambarea Fisher, 17, and Sarah Fisher, 15, plus British national John Nicholas Cullan, 24, and Eddie Gaempe, 10, of Germany. The mother of the dead child had not joined the outing. "She didn't think it would be dangerous because there were many adults on the boat," said Surat Thani Police Lieutenant Colonel Phicarn Galayaseri. Thirauydh said the group had a taken a boat to the cave, about 3 kilometres from their bungalows, and were caught inside during a three-hour rainstorm that inundated the cavern. He claimed that park officials had issued warnings to tourists about the dangers of visiting the cave during the rainy season. The tourists had been staying on floating bungalows on the Koh Sok reservoir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 "The cave became flooded following a heavy downpour that began about an hour before the vacationers began their journey." It was already raining hard. No one was thinking about the consequesnces-DUH. Bunch of sheep I am with you Fidel I 'll sit it out-way tooo clostrophobic. My nephew spent many night below the streets of Paris in the underground system of sewers there-also very freaky... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 I don't know where that river flows, but you could get a heavy rain 20 miles away that would make the river rise. I remember similar accidents happening in the USA and France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidflux Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 I wonder how the one girl was able to make it. She's very lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 One report is the rising water took her up to the roof of the cave. She got on a ledge but could not get down once the water receded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 After 16 terrifying hours trapped on a ledge in a flooded cave, a British holidaymaker told yesterday how her fiance saved her life before he was swept to his death. Helena Carroll, 21, was the sole survivor from a party of nine exploring a cave complex in southern Thailand. Full Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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