A mother and daughter waited for rescue from their flooded house in Hat Yai for four days. The 80-year-old mother unfortunately drowned after slipping into the water, and her daughter had to place her body inside a refrigerator to prevent it from being swept away by the strong current.
A heartbreaking incident in flood-hit Hat Yai has sparked widespread sorrow, after video clips of a rescue operation were circulated on social media on Tuesday.
Footage posted by rescue officer Wallop Boonchan from Phuket showed the moment when his team reached a submerged home in The Rich Village in Ban Phru, Hat Yai district, at around 7.25pm on Monday.
The post read, “It hurts that we arrived too late. She had already drowned.”
Wallop’s caption read, when rescuers entered the house, with the floodwater was almost up to the roof, they found the daughter sitting inside a floating refrigerator, using it as her only refuge as she waited for help. Through tears, she recounted that the floodwaters had surged the previous night.
Her mother, unable to hold on against the rising current, slipped and drowned.
With the water level reaching nearly 1.8 metres and the current still strong, the daughter placed her mother’s body in another refrigerator to prevent it from drifting away.
The video led to an outpouring of condolences and support for the grieving family, as well as praise for the rescue workers, who continue to operate under extreme conditions in Hat Yai and surrounding areas.
Rescuers reported that, once they managed to take the mother’s body to an area where the water was not so deep, the exhausted and traumatised daughter finally collapsed and lost consciousness.
