Rescuers slam local police for lack of response after body found in Chao Phraya
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The Rama VII Bridge in Bangkok has long been a location where people have jumped to their death. But its location has also fallen between two jurisdictions and the nearby police argue over who is responsible for receiving and acting on reports on bodies in the river.
Yesterday, the body of an unidentified man was pulled from the Chao Phraya River at 2am Saturday but rescuers claim police refused to turn up until late morning.
Eventually, the rescuers sent the man’s body to the Police Hospital and registered the incident with the Bang Kruay police station in Nonthaburi.
The man was seen jumping from the Rama VII Bridge. That part of the river is located between Bangkok and Nonthaburi and police stations in the two provinces have been known to pass responsibility to one another when informed of bodies found on the river.
Officials of the Ruam Katanyu said they were alerted at 12.30am that a man was seen jumping from the Rama VII bridge.
Local people, who fished at the spot, said the saw the man drinking beer in the middle of the bridge before jumping. They said he was seen struggling in the water for awhile before he disappeared under water.
Scuba divers took about an hour to locate and retrieve the body. The body was put on the pier on the side of the Bang Kruay power plant of the Electricity Generating of Thailand pending a check by police.
The rescuers said they called the Muang Nonthaburi police station and Bang Kruay police station in Nonthaburi and Bang Pho police station and Boworn Mongkol police station in Bangkok at 2 am, but no police turned up.
Noppadol Si Thongkham, an official of the Ruam Katanyu Foundation, said 191 patrol police officers passed by later in the morning and they helped coordinate with some stations, but no police responded.
Noppadol said there have been similar problems at that area for years as police from nearby stations often passed the buck to other stations to inspect bodies.
Noppadol said sometimes a floating body has been tied to a pier for a day before police turned up.
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SOURCE: The Nation
