Two die, 2 missing in rough seas
A Dutchwoman died and three of her friends were injured when they were swept underwater by strong waves while playing in the sea at Sai Khao Beach in Koh Chang yesterday afternoon.
Four Thai tourists were injured in the same manner shortly afterwards at a nearby location on the resort island in Trat province. While three Dutch tourists were pulled out of the water in time at 12.30pm, Caroline Hayer, 30, was in the sea too long. She was taken to Koh Chang International Hospital, but doctors were unable to save her. The group had arrived in Koh Chang only one day earlier. Less than one kilometre away, four Thai men in their 20s from Bangkok were rescued from the sea. One man, identified only as Chaikul, is in a critical condition in hospital. The other three were only slightly injured. Koh Chang subdistrict chief Sakprasert Chareonprasit said such incidents resulted from tourists ignoring warnings by local authorities and tour operators to stay away from large waves. In another tragedy, five-year-old Anchitha Moonkhammee was killed and her brother Varuth, 10, went missing in strong waves in front of Reaun Burapa Restaurant in Rayong's Muang district yesterday afternoon. Local fishermen who witnessed the incident said the children had been strolling along the beach with their mother Leela Srichala, 33, before they went into the sea and the waves swept them away. About 100 metres from the scene, six-year-old Atthapol Chalaemlam was swept into the sea. He remains missing.
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