One Phuket swimmer drowns, one sent to hospital

PHUKET: Two swimming* incidents on Koh Racha, about 25 kilometers south of Phuket, have left a Chinese woman dead and an Indian woman in hospital. (Click here to see Phuket Breaking News report.)

Yuan Dingrong, 56, who was spending a week in Patong with nine of her family members, drowned after getting into difficulties while swimming* off Ao La (La Bay) on November 20, a member of the Tourist Police told the Phuket Gazette.

Police reported that Ms Yuan’s daughter noticed that something was wrong after about 10 minutes of her mother being in the water. They pulled Ms Yuan back into the boat and proceeded to Koh Racha Hospital.

With no improvement in Ms Yuan’s condition, it was decided to transfer her to the better-equipped Phuket International Hospital. Medical staff continued to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during the journey, but were unable to revive her.

Ms Yuan was declared dead at 1:30pm.

The same afternoon a 44-year-old Indian woman, Jyoti Chavhan, was taken to hospital after having issues while snorkeling off Koh Racha.

Ms Chavhan, who was on holiday with her family on Koh Racha, allegedly took in water through her snorkel, causing a blockage of her airways.

A speedboat rushed her back to Phuket, where she was transferred to a Vachira Phuket Hospital ambulance.

A Vachira Hospital official told the Gazette that Ms Chavhan was transferred to Patong Hospital soon after arriving.

Patong Hospital staff said that Ms Chavhan is in a stable condition and should be discharged today.

* Correction: The original report stated that Yuan Dingrong was snorkeling, not swimming. The error is regretted.

— Atchaa Khamlo