Drowning: Mother and Daughter Die at Chiang Mai Reservoir

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture from responders.

 

A heartbreaking incident unfolded on the morning of 11 April, at a large reservoir on the grounds of Chiang Mai Rajabhat University’s Mae Rim campus, where a mother and her seven-year-old daughter drowned.

 

At approximately 09:15, Pol. Sub Lt. Sarin Intor, an investigator at Mae Rim Police Station, received a report of a drowning at the reservoir in Moo 7, Khilek Subdistrict, Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai Province. Emergency services, including doctors, rescue teams, and divers from Region 5, were immediately dispatched to the scene.

 

Witnesses, including construction camp workers nearby, said the young girl, dressed in a pink outfit, had fallen into the water while her mother was washing clothes by the reservoir. The mother, in a desperate bid to save her daughter, jumped in after her.

 

Workers at the site managed to use a fishing net to retrieve the child from the water. Medical personnel from Nakornping Hospital administered CPR at the scene before rushing her to hospital. Sadly, she was later pronounced dead.

 

Meanwhile, the mother remained missing beneath the water. Divers from Region 5 and the Mae Jo rescue team conducted a search in the murky, five-metre-deep reservoir. After approximately 20 minutes, they located the mother’s body roughly 50 metres from the edge. She too was transported to Nakornping Hospital, but despite efforts to resuscitate her, she was declared dead shortly after arrival.

 

Rescue diver Mr Sila Manotee, 23, from the Mae Jo rescue team, described the challenges they faced: “The water was extremely murky, and the depth of the reservoir made the search very difficult. We knew we had to bring her out as quickly as possible.”

 

Police investigations confirmed that the victims were of Tai Yai (Shan) ethnicity. It is believed the mother brought her daughter to the reservoir to do laundry when the incident occurred.

 

-- 2025-04-12