Vietnamese mother and daughter drown at Phuket beach

At Naithon Beach in the Thalang district of Phuket, a Vietnamese woman and her daughter drowned while swimming yesterday. The waters off the coast were rough with high waves caused by strong winds, and red flags were set up to warn tourists of the dangers of swimming in those conditions.

The two women drowned early yesterday morning with police being called by rescue workers, according to the Sakhu police station whose officers arrived at about 8.50am. Upon investigating, it was found that three Vietnamese tourists that were staying at the Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach had decided to go swimming that morning despite the red flag warnings that the waters were unsafe.

The staff of a local hotel along the beach reported seeing them in the strong waves at about 7.30 am and tried to wave and shout to the Vietnamese women that they should not be swimming and urged them to get out of the water. Lifeguards are not on duty on that beach until 8am, after which two lifeguards patrol the beach until 6pm each day.

After swimming out about 20 meters, the 52 year old Vietnamese woman and her 16 year old daughter were overwhelmed by large waves and pulled further out to sea. The third person, whose identity has not been released to the media but was described only as a friend, was able to reach safety.

Sakhu tambon administration organisation rescue workers raced into the rough waters to save them and were able to grab them both and pull them ashore. When the rescue workers got the two Vietnamese women to the beach, they were already unconscious. CPR was performed on them both before being transported to Thalang Hospital. But it was too late, and they were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok has been notified of the tragic accident and will contact the family and get instructions on what to do with their bodies. An autopsy will be performed at Vachira Phuket Hospital to determine if there are any extenuating factors in the unfortunate drownings.

Police warned people to pay attention to the notifications they post, noting that red flags were visible on the beach along with a sign saying, “Dangerous. Do not swim more than 20 metres from the shore.” Lifeguards are on patrol throughout the day but authorities urged tourists not to take unnecessary risks to avoid future drownings.

SOURCE: The Phuket News