Two missing after pickup swept away when Kanchanaburi weir collapses

KANCHANABURI — Two people are missing after a pickup truck carrying four people was swept away by strong currents following the collapse of a weir in Thong Pha Phum district. Two men were rescued, while a mother and her daughter remain missing.

The Huai Suea weir, near the Huai Chani headwaters unit junction in Chalae subdistrict, Thong Pha Phum district, Kanchanaburi, collapsed, sending a powerful surge of water through the area.

A pickup truck carrying four people attempted to drive through the fast-flowing water and was swept off the road and submerged. The occupants were two men and two women.

Local residents who witnessed the incident contacted the Phithakkan Foundation’s Thong Pha Phum unit, Disaster Relief Volunteer Unit Than 34-00 at Bunwipha Base, Lam Khlong Ngu National Park rescue personnel, local administrative officials and a four-wheel-drive rescue team led by village headman Boy of Tha Khanun. Teams rushed to the area to assist.

By the time rescuers arrived, local residents had safely pulled two men from the water. The other two occupants, a mother and her daughter, had been swept away by the strong current and remained missing.

Rescue teams searched for the pair but were hampered by the powerful current and darkness. For the safety of personnel, the search was suspended overnight, with teams planning to regroup and resume operations on the morning of 28 September.

Initial information indicated that three of the occupants were a father, mother and daughter, while the fourth was the girl’s uncle. All four worked as labourers at a plantation in Chalae subdistrict.