Presumed dead man found alive after week in mangrove mud
Fisherman initially mistakes survivor for corpse and runs away in fear
Rescuers assisted a Thai man who was trapped in mud in a mangrove forest in the southern province of Chumphon for seven days, after a local fisherman discovered him and initially mistook him for a corpse.
The 53 year old fisherman, Sila Wongpaen, fled the mangrove in shock and filed a report at Ban Wisai Nue Police Station, stating that he had found a deceased body of a man. He later led police officers, a medical team, and a rescue foundation to the scene, located near a shrimp farm in Mueang Chumphon district.
Rescuers and medical personnel struggled to reach the site, carrying a stretcher and medical equipment through the thick mud. They prepared to move what they believed to be a deceased person onto the stretcher for transfer to a hospital for an autopsy.
To everyone’s astonishment, the man presumed dead was still breathing. Though too weak to speak, the medical team confirmed he was alive.
Rescuers immediately administered oxygen and transported him out of the mangrove for urgent hospital treatment.
A 68 year old man, Saluay Kattamart, later contacted police to identify the survivor as his 32 year old nephew, Warawut Waraluck. Warawut, a construction worker at the same site as Saluay, disappeared on the evening of June 4 after collecting his wages.
Saluay said he and other family members filed a missing person report at Wisai Nue Police Station, but police found no leads. They had been searching for Warawut, but no one in the community had seen or heard from him.
Saluay said he did not know how Warawut ended up trapped in the mud but believed he may have wandered into the mangrove while intoxicated. He explained that his nephew was an alcoholic who regularly consumed around four bottles of liquor a day.
Warawut remains in hospital, though no further details about his condition have been released to the public.
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