Thai municipality official dies in road collapse in Chiang Mai

Shocked colleagues mourn respected official after 15 years of service

A municipality official died in a road collapse while on duty, inspecting a drainage pipe under a road in the Mae Rim district of Chiang Mai province yesterday, September 10.

 

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The 56 year old head of the Construction Department of Mueang Don Kaew Municipality Office, Prasert, was investigating a water leak from the drainage pipe beneath the road with other officials. The leak caused the road to collapse, creating a large hole.

Prasert was seen jumping into the hole to check the source of the leak more closely. Unexpectedly, a section of asphalt and soil behind him gave way, collapsing onto him.

A backhoe driver immediately removed the fallen debris from Prasert’s body, and witnesses managed to pull him out of the hole around 20 minutes later.

A colleague told Channel 7 that Prasert remained conscious and was able to respond to questions while being transported to the hospital. Sadly, he succumbed to his injuries at 2am today, September 11.

Official dies in road collapse while on duty
Photo via Facebook/ Chiangmai Report

According to Channel 7, the collapse caused severe internal injuries, including ruptured intestines, multiple bone fractures, and ribs that pierced his lungs and spleen.

One of Prasert’s colleagues, Kriangkrai Jannakam, stated that Prasert had instructed him to place sandbags inside the pipe before sealing it with mortar to prevent further leakage, shortly before the soil collapsed on top of him.

Chiang Mai municipality officials killed in road collapse
Photo via Facebook/ Chiangmai Report

Colleagues described him as a hardworking team leader who had served the municipality for more than 15 years and was widely respected.

The Mayor of the Mueang Don Kaew Municipality Office, Palakorn Kantawang, said no one expected such a tragedy to occur. He added that the municipality would fully support Prasert’s family with funeral expenses and contribution funds.

Palakorn also ordered officials to take extra precautions during road repairs to prevent similar incidents in future.

Official succumed to injuries after road and soil collapsed over him
Photo via Facebook/ Chiangmai Report

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Petch Petpailin

Petpailin, or Petch, is a Thai translator and writer for The Thaiger who focuses on translating breakingThai news stories into English. With a background in field journalism, Petch brings several years of experience to the English News desk at The Thaiger. Before joining The Thaiger, Petch worked as a content writer for several known blogging sites in Bangkok, including Happio and The Smart Local. Her articles have been syndicated by many big publishers in Thailand and internationally, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Bangkok Post. She is a news writer who stops reading news on the weekends to spend more time cafe hopping and petting dwarf shrimp! But during office hours, you can find Petch on LinkedIn and you can reach her by email at petch@thethaiger.com.