Fourth Army Region Commander Lt-Gen Kriangkrai Srirak is recovering at Songklanagarind Hospital, in the southern province of Songkhla, following surgery to repair a hip bone fractured in an emergency helicopter landing yesterday (Friday), according to Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in his Facebook post.

He said that the general will have to spend at least three weeks recuperating, adding that all the other officers who sustained injuries in the crash-landing in a rubber plantation in Thepa district are also safe and in high spirits.

Anutin went to the hospital yesterday, but was unable to see Lt-Gen Kriangkrai as he was in the operating theatre.

The crash site has been cordoned off, waiting for a team of aviation safety experts to arrive to investigate the cause of the accident, before the wreckage is removed from the plantation.

Songkhla Governor Jesada Chitrat is due to visit all the injured officers this afternoon to wish them well on behalf of His Majesty the King.