A man drowned while attempting to swim across a canal in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district. Despite waving for help before submerging, rescue divers only found his body hours later after a traditional ritual was performed.
The incident was reported to the Phra Nakhon Radio Centre at 1pm yesterday, July 27, when witnesses saw the man disappear in the Suvarnabhumi Canal, Bang Pla subdistrict, Bang Phli district.
Local police from Bang Phli Police Station coordinated with divers from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, who searched the 80-metre-wide and 5-6-metre-deep canal for over an hour without success, prompting additional divers to join the search.
Naphat Klomkliang, a member of the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, noted that the search was hampered by strong currents and the canal’s width. Coordination with the Royal Irrigation Department was necessary to temporarily close the canal’s floodgates, easing the divers’ efforts.
The expanded search, involving over 15 divers and covering a 200-metre radius from the drowning spot, yielded no results after five hours.
Frustrated by the lack of progress, rescue workers performed a traditional gesture of seeking forgiveness from spiritual entities and tossed a coin into the canal, which led to the discovery of the body soon after, at 5.22pm. The deceased, a 50 year old man from Kanchanaburi province, was identified upon retrieval.
A friend of the victim recounted that they were fishing in a group of three when the victim attempted to swim across the canal, following him. Despite being an experienced swimmer, the victim signalled for help halfway across. His friend attempted a rescue but was unable to reach him in time, ultimately returning to shore due to exhaustion, reported KhaoSod.
The victim’s body was sent to the forensic department at Chakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute for an autopsy, with police continuing their investigation. The body will be released to the family for religious rites.
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