Mae Hong Son landslide blocks highway, cars trapped
A landslide has blocked a highway in Khun Yuam district, Mae Hong Son, causing a significant traffic build-up after large boulders fell onto the road at around 9.20am today.
The Mae Hong Son Highway District Director, Yodphet Khamseangdi, received reports that boulders had fallen and completely blocked the route on Highway 108 at kilometre marker 301, in the Mae Surin section between Ban Huai Pong in Mueang district and Ban Mae Surin in Khun Yuam district, Mae Hong Son. No vehicles were able to pass in either direction.
Following the report, Yodphet ordered the Khun Yuam Highway Unit to deploy personnel and heavy machinery to clear the road. However, officials confirmed the boulders are too large for the unit’s available equipment to handle, and coordination is underway to hire additional heavy machinery from the local area.
A large number of vehicles are reported to be stranded at the scene. District administration officials from Khun Yuam, the Khun Yuam Subdistrict Administrative Organisation, and the highway unit are on site managing traffic and assisting motorists while clearance work continues.
Northern Thailand has been no stranger to mud and landslides during periods of heavy downpour. Last August, a pair of slides struck Chiang Mai within hours of each other, killing four people, injuring 15, and leaving five others missing.
The first, at 2.50am on August 27, destroyed five homes in Mae Suk subdistrict and left one person dead, with over 10 people taken to Khun Yuam and Mae Chaem hospitals for treatment.
A second landslide followed that evening, sweeping through Ban Pang Ung and Ban Pang Ung Mai villages in Mae Suek subdistrict. More than 100 houses were affected, eight of which were destroyed.
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