US Navy servicewoman dies in Patong

PATONG: A US servicewoman accidentally fell to her death from a seventh-floor hotel room in Patong yesterday, the Gazette has been told.

In a news release posted on its website at noon today, Manager Online quoted Kathu Police Superintendent Col Grissak Songmoonnark as identifying the woman as 25-year-old Ebony Cooper.

There were few other details in the report, except that police were notified of the death this morning.

Citing US Military policy, Scott Bernat, Chief of the US Naval Security Force Detection Detachment, told the Gazette that he could neither confirm nor deny any information about Ms Cooper’s death.

As a result of the death, some 2,000 US Marine and Navy personnel on R&R leave in Phuket were today called back to their vessels at Ao Makham for a security briefing, a source in Patong said.

Three US military vessels, including two large amphibious craft, anchored off Ao Makham on Monday, and personnel began to arrive in Patong about 6 pm yesterday.

After the briefing, the crews will be allowed to continue their leave for three more days, the source said.

The US resumed using Phuket as a port of call for rest and relaxation after Thailand’s military-installed government was replaced by the elected government of Samak Sundaravej in January.

Although news service AP reported today that the US Navy had aborted its Myanmar aid mission, these and other US naval ships remain in the region to assist the country should the junta begin to allow aid into the cyclone-hit areas.