CHANUMAN, THAILAND – A 31-year-old mother and her three-year-old daughter drowned in a stream in Amnat Charoen after the child slipped and fell into the water.
Accident at the stream
The incident occurred on 21 March at around 1 p.m. at the Huai Thom stream near Ban Kham Nok Kok in Chanuman district, according to police. Initial inquiries found that the family of five had gone out together to look at a cassava (manioc) field.
Due to the heat, the mother walked down to the bank to wash herself. When the child saw her at the water’s edge, the girl ran to her, slipped on rocks and fell into the stream.
The mother immediately jumped in after her daughter. However, the current and the depth of the stream proved fatal for both, and they drowned.
Seconds that changed everything
Witness accounts collected by police indicated that everything happened within just a few moments. The mother’s reflex to follow her child into the water left no time to assess the danger posed by the stream.
Officers later documented the sequence of events based on statements from relatives and other people present. The case was treated as a tragic accident near the rural waterway.
Major search with divers
A responsible investigator with the rank of police lieutenant from Chanuman Police Station was alerted and coordinated the operation at the stream. A diving team from the Phetkasem Foundation Amnat Charoen joined the search.
According to the authorities, the divers searched for more than three hours before they first located the mother. The recovery took place under challenging conditions in moving water.
Search halted at dusk, resumed at dawn
As darkness fell and, according to people on site, the rescuers began to run low on oxygen, the search was temporarily suspended in the evening. Safety concerns made a continuation in the dark impossible.
In the early morning hours, dozens of villagers took part in the renewed search for the child. Their support expanded the area that could be checked along the stream.
Child found at same spot
Later in the morning, the three-year-old girl was finally found in the same area where her mother had previously been recovered. The discovery brought the intensive search operation to an end.
Eyewitnesses reported that the father collapsed when he saw the lifeless body of his daughter.
“He held the girl in his arms, crying, while the helpers stood beside him.”
said local witnesses.
Investigation and final steps
After examination by the on-duty doctor at Chanuman Hospital, the bodies were released to the family. Relatives then prepared the religious funeral rites.
Police continued to document the course of events for their records. No indications of criminal involvement were reported in connection with the drowning.
Source: thairath.co.th