Heartsick firefigher found hanged

PHUKET CITY: Police on August 14 discovered the decomposing corpse of a municipal firefighter who apparently hanged himself several days earlier.

Phuket City Police Duty Officer Pol Lt Tada Sodarak identified the deceased as Apirat Sararat, a 30-year-old native of Pattani.

Police were informed of Khun Apirat’s death by a 191 call placed by fellow residents of the firefighter’s dormitory on Kra Rd, he said.

When police arrived at about 4 am, they found that friends of the deceased had already taken down the body, which they had found suspended by a red-and-white firefighter’s rescue cord from the top of the door leading out to the balcony.

Police believe K. Apirat stood on a stool, tied one end of the cord around his neck and the other to the mechanism that makes the door close automatically, and then kicked the stool away.

From the state of the body, police believe K. Apirat took his life at least three days before.

The friends told police that K. Apirat had lived in the third-story room with his girlfriend, who had left a few days before.

“I assume this case is a suicide. We know the deceased suffered from an enlarged heart and frequently argued with his girlfriend,” Lt Tada said.

K. Apirat’s body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital. It has since been claimed by relatives and returned to Pattani for funeral services, he added.