Eight die as flash flood sweeps into Surat cave

Eight foreign tourists were trekking with local guides on Saturday in Khao Sok National Park in Surat Thani province when heavy rain caused a stream in Tham-nam Thalu cave to rise suddenly.

Helena Carroll, a 21-year-old British woman survived and was rescued Sunday, district official Sitichai Thaicharoen said, after eight bodies had been pulled from the water.

"We can identify the bodies now. There was a 10-year-old German boy ... an Englishman, a Swiss man and three Swiss women," he told AFP.

"The survivor is a British woman [Helena Carroll]. She is so far fine. She was able to climb up to the roof of the cave - that is why she survived. She has been sent to provincial hospital for treatment."

Carroll, from Birmingham, waited 16 hours to be rescued. She told Thailand-based British correspondent Andrew Drummond her holiday of a lifetime suddenly turned into a nightmare.

"I cannot believe I am the only survivor. I can't believe my John is dead. One minute I was in what I thought was the most beautiful place in the world. The next thing there is death all around me."

The Englishwoman, from Solihull in Birmingham, was travelling with fiancee John Cullan, 24, also from Solihull.

"We had got half way through the cave I heard this sudden roar. I looked behind and saw this rush of water coming towards us," she said.

"John and I started climbing. The first thing we saw was the tour guide and 10-year-old German boy being dragged away, then the Swiss couple and their two lovely girls.

"As we climbed I lost my grip and slipped down but John grabbed me and pulled me up.

"We kept climbing higher and found a ledge. We were all alone in the dark. We could not see anything as all the torches had gone.

"John said: 'If we stay here we are going to die'. But I said we should stay. At least we are safe where we were.

"But he decided that he would get into the current and flow with it. He thought the current would take him out, then he could bring help to rescue me.

"He slipped into the water and that's the last I ever saw of him. He let go and he was just gone. I was alone in the dark. All I could see was insects that light up, like fireflies and hear the rumbling of the water. I sat there shivering all night. I had no idea what the time was.

"Then all of a sudden I saw a bright light. It was the light of a torch and so I started shouting 'Help. Help. I'm over here'.

"When I got out I was told that many people had died. They had been found at midnight, eight hours before I was rescued.

"Then they took me to a place which was being used as a mortuary. I saw John's body in a box next to one of the beautiful little Swiss girls. It was awful."

Police identified the dead as Swiss Benno Fischer, 49, and Stalder Fischer, 48, and their daughters Ambarea, 17, and Sarah, 15, and German Eddie Gaempe, 10, and John Cullan.

The two guides killed were Kitisak Pratoom, 30, and Sahachai Boonkong, 25.

Ines Gaempe, the mother of Eddie, survived because she did not go with the others into the cave. The group had hired a long-tail boat from Baan Chiew-laan pier to the cave. They took 90 minutes on the boat, then walked for about 3km to the cave, which was described as 700 metres long and 5-10 metres wide.

Local television channels showed images of rescuers carrying body bags from a boat overnight and laying them out on the shore.

After the tragedy, deputy Interior Minister Banyat Jansena called an urgent meeting and closed six national parks in Surat Thani, saying they were areas at risk from flash floods. The six parks include Khao Sok, Kaeng Krung, Tairomyen, Klong Panom, Angthong Marine Park and Pangan Marine Park.

Khao Sok has a large lake, thick rainforest, limestone cliffs and numerous caves - which make it popular for trekking. More than 20,000 tourists visited the park last year, according to a local tourism website.

The cave tragedy is the second blow to the tourism industry after the plane crash at Phuket airport last month, in which 90 people died.

 The Nation,

 Agence France-Presse