Burmese man drowns in Phuket drain
Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers have retrieved the body of an unnamed Burmese man who fell into a canal and drowned in Chalong.
The 47 year old man from Myanmar fell into the canal while watching the flooding, Phuket Info Center reported. The body was found near the floodgate, far from where he fell.
According to local media, several people saw the Burmese man in the water waving his hands to attract attention. Nobody was prepared to help the victim, as the canal was too wide and the current too strong.
The floodgate was designed and built to prevent flooding in Chalong and Wichit areas during the rainy season. It was completed in 2019 for 139 million baht (US$3.7 million) and included a pumphouse and shoring up two kilometres of the canal banks.
The gate is closed at high tide to prevent seawater from stopping the outflow of the canal. Water is pumped from the canal to the seaward side of the floodgate when levels in the canal are high.
Kusoldharm Phuket Foundation is a nonprofit foundation which provides free help and emergency assistance to the public in Phuket and the surrounding area. Rescue workers took the body to Vachira Phuket Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
