House Fire Claims Elderly Man’s Life as Students Save His Wife

[Georgealbert]

 

 

A house fire in Songkhla claimed the life of a 67-year-old man while his elderly wife was saved by a group of brave university students. Despite their valiant efforts, the students could rescue only the woman, while her husband succumbed to the flames.

 

The fire broke out late on October 28 at a two-story concrete home in Khao Rup Chang, Mueang District, Songkhla. Police officers from Songkhla Provincial Police Station, along with fire rescue teams, medical personnel from Songkhla Hospital, and volunteer rescuers, rushed to the scene. Flames were spreading rapidly through the ground floor of the house when emergency services arrived, after residents had attempted to control the blaze with extinguishers. Songkhla’s municipal firefighters managed to put out the fire after 30 minutes.

 

When they entered the home, authorities discovered the charred body of a 67-year-old man near the entrance. According to his grandson, only he and his elderly grandmother, who is paralyzed, were in the house at the time. The man had recently undergone surgery and required a walking cane, which limited his mobility. The grandson, who was working nearby, hurried home after a neighbour informed him of the fire. Meanwhile, a group of young students who lived next door had rushed in to save his grandmother.

 

One of the students, part of a group from Thaksin University and Phatthalung Technical College, described the harrowing rescue. They had just returned from running errands and were preparing to go out for dinner when they heard shouts and saw smoke coming from the elderly couple’s home. Realising someone was trapped, the students quickly entered and found the elderly woman clinging to a doorframe for support after her cane had fallen. They managed to bring her to safety.

 

The students recounted that the woman mentioned her husband was still inside, prompting several of them to brave the dense smoke to look for him. However, the thick smoke obscured their view, and despite checking the bed and floor, they could not locate him. Unable to stay inside any longer due to the smoke, they had to exit the house, later learning the man had died just inside the entrance, apparently having tried to crawl out.

 

Officials determined that an electrical short circuit in a fan outlet sparked the fire.

 

The Thai news report below contains blurred out images of the fatality.

 

Picture captured from video of incident.

-- 2024-10-29

 

[Tropicalevo]

Well done to the students. 

Great to see people helping instead of just filming and posting on various sites.

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Well done to the students. 

Great to see people helping instead of just filming and posting on various sites.

Indeed..