At least eight people have died after a luxury villa and homes on the popular Thai resort island of Phuket was hit by a landslide following heavy rain from a monsoon with fears of trapped tourists
Phuket: Landslide hits city in Thailand
At least eight people have died after a landslide caused by heavy rain slammed into a luxury villa on the popular Thai resort island of Phuket with fears tourists are trapped.
A Russian couple are claimed to be among the dead and missing on the island while local police are working to identify the victims after around 50 homes were hit. Thailand has been battered by monsoon rains over the past few days that have left a trail of devastation in southern areas and some parts of the north.
Phuket Vice Governor Sattha confirmed that five bodies have so far been recovered and from homes and efforts are being made to retrieve three more. “Since the search began his morning the bodies of five Myanmar nationals have been recovered. Three more individuals including Thais and foreign tourists are still trapped in the area,” he reportedly said.
Police chief Khundech Na Nongkhai said: “Heavy rain which began at 2.00 am last night caused a landslide that damaged homes. Those living in the area were caught off guard.” Images show buildings that have been smashed by the landslide that is believed to have come down from the Nak Kerd mountain range and hit the residential area of the island, where hotels and rented apartments are located.
Flooding from the monsoon rain has caused several deaths before the latest incident and now emergency services, volunteers and the police are looking to find victims. The rescue operation though is being hindered by the continued showers and expectation of more to come.
A local called Sukon Nakmat, 34, told local media how she ran to safety and remarkably survived the landslide. She said she had been sleeping when she heard a loud noise and climbed on top of the roof of her house when she saw the floods which saved her life.
It comes after a small passenger plane on a domestic flight in Thailand crashed Thursday afternoon shortly after taking off from the main airport in the capital, Bangkok, the country’s civil aviation authority announced. It appeared that all nine people aboard had been killed.
Rescuers found no survivors at the crash site in a mangrove swamp in Chachoengsao province about 25 miles from the airport, reported Thai media, which said seven passengers and two pilots had been listed as being on board. After about an hour of searching, rescuers found badly shattered body parts in the difficult, swampy terrain, said a spokesperson for the provincial government.
The names of those on board were not immediately available. However, the spokesperson said they included five Chinese tourists from Hong Kong, two Thai female crew and the Thai pilot and co-pilot. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand said the turboprop plane, a Cessna Caravan C208B operated by the Thai Flying Service Company, had departed Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 2:46 p.m. (0746 GMT). Air traffic control lost radio and radar contact with the aircraft 11 minutes later, when it was an estimated 35 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of the airport.