Picture from responders 

 

A family has been left devastated after an incident in which a grandmother and her six-year-old grandson were crushed to death when a concrete wall collapsed on them at their home in Nong Bua Lamphu province.

 

The incident occurred at around 15:40 on 5 March, at a single-storey house in Ban Non Sawang, Na Mafueang Subdistrict, Mueang District. The wall collapsed in one piece and was approximately two metres wide and 2.5 metres high and had been constructed as part of the home built over 30 years ago.

 

The deceased have been identified as Duangjai Sriphalan, 63, and her grandson, who had been staying with her after school.

 

Prasert Sriphalan, 65, the husband of the deceased woman, returned home from running errands in town and was met with a shocking sight, his wife trapped beneath the heavy concrete wall, with only her head and shoulders visible. In a panic, he rushed to call for help. His younger brother, who works as a janitor at a nearby school, ran over with a neighbour to assist.

 

Together, they managed to lift the wall slightly and pull Duangjai’s body free, but she had already succumbed to her injuries. Moments later, Prasert’s son arrived and frantically searched for his own child, fearing he had been with his grandmother.

 

Lifting the wall again, they discovered the young boy unconscious in a plastic basin, where he had likely been having a bath when the wall collapsed. The family quickly pulled him out and called emergency services.

 

Rescue teams arrived and found that the boy still had a faint pulse. He was rushed to Nong Bua Lamphu Hospital, but despite doctors’ efforts, he later passed away from his injuries.

 

Investigators believe the collapse was due to a combination of factors. The house had been built over three decades ago, and the wall was in poor condition, with minimal cement reinforcement and no steel bars anchoring it to the supporting columns. 

 

Additionally, recent road expansion works outside the home, involving heavy machinery, may have contributed to structural instability.

 

Prasert also noted that the wall had a clothesline attached, where his wife regularly hung laundry. It is suspected that she had been reaching for a towel to dry her grandson after bathing him when the already weakened wall gave way.

 

Duangjai’s younger brother, Suchart Chantra, who had helped in the rescue attempt, described the heartbreak of finding his sister crushed under the massive concrete slab. He explained that she had been caring for her grandson after school every day while the parents were at work.

 

Following police and forensic examinations, the family has accepted the cause of death as accidental and will hold a joint funeral for the grandmother and grandson at their home.

 

-- 2025-03-07

 

 

 

House only built 30 years ago. What are houses worth in thailand? Definitely not what they are selling them for currently