Krabi Declares Mountain Area A Disaster Zone

[george]

Krabi declares mountain area a disaster zone

KRABI: -- The provincial authorities in Thailand's southern province of Krabi have declared an area close to a limestone mountain a disaster zone, and have evacuated residents out of the area for their safety.

This follows the collapse of part of the mountain, which killed three people when it crushed a house below it on Monday, a senior local official said.

The mountain landslide also damaged twelve nearly houses, three of which were entirely destroyed, according to the province's Deputy Governor, Chai Pornpanitphan.

He blamed the collapse on excess water in a pond at the top of the mountain.

Cracks developed and the pond broke, bringing down slabs of limestone with it, he said.

The local authorities have cleared all the debris from the area and are preparing to secure the loose parts of the mountain, said Mr.Chai said.

However, the deputy governor denied media reports that the local authorities had made the area off-limits to visitors.

He said that visitors had only warned of the dangerous area, and local residents had been evacuated out of the area.

--TNA 2004-10-20