Kite Incident: 7-Year-Old Boy Struck and Killed by Rice Harvester Truck in Buriram

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture from responders.

 

A 7-year-old boy lost his life in an incident involving a trailer carrying a rice harvester in Khuean Dan village, Khok Sawang Subdistrict, Nong Ki District, Buriram Province.

 

The incident occurred on December 15, when Pol. Lt. Sakkapong Pholkert, an investigator at Nong Ki Police Station, was notified of the tragedy. Rescuers from the Nong Ki Foundation were called to the scene, where they found a boy, identified as Master Rapeepat, nicknamed “Nong Pee,” a first-grader, lying lifeless on the village’s concrete road.

 

The boy was crushed by the right wheels of the heavily loaded trailer, with one wheel pressing on his hips and another on his head, causing a fatal skull fracture. Rescuers faced difficulties recovering the body due to the weight of the trailer, requiring two hydraulic jacks to lift the vehicle. The process took about an hour.

 

According to Mr. Manas, 54, a local resident from Nakhon Ratchasima Province and the driver of the tractor, he had been hauling the rice harvester home after completing the harvest. He explained that he was driving slowly because of the heavy load. He noticed two children playing with kites in a nearby sugarcane field that had been burned. One was flying the kite, and the other, later identified as Nong Pee, was chasing after it.

 

Mr. Manas initially assumed the children saw his vehicle and were keeping a safe distance. However, moments later, he heard a loud noise from the back of the trailer and stopped to investigate, only to discover the boy had been run over.

 

Nong Pee’s grandmother, Mrs. Muan, 67, expressed her grief, recounting that her grandson was passionate about flying kites. She recalled that just days earlier, his kite had become tangled in a power line, prompting his parents to buy him a new one. Tragically, he was playing with the new kite when the incident occurred. She urged police to thoroughly investigate the incident to determine the exact cause.

 

The boy’s mother, Ms. Siranee, 26, said she and her husband were at work when they received the heartbreaking call from her mother. She revealed that her son loved kites and often played with them near their home in a cleared sugarcane field. She had repeatedly warned him about safety and urged him not to stray too far. “I never imagined something like this would happen, even though we tried to keep him safe,” she said tearfully.

 

Authorities are continuing their investigation to ensure all circumstances surrounding the incident are clarified.

 

-- 2024-12-16