Guard Of Honour For Crash Victims

[Lite Beer]

Guard of honour for crash victims

By The Nation on Sunday

After days of uncertainty and searching for nine men onboard a missing Black Hawk helicopter, the bodies of 9th Infantry Division chief Maj General Tawan Ruengsri and Channel 5 cameraman Sornwichai Kongtannikul were the first to emerge from deep jungle in southern Thailand on Friday.

Their bodies were received by a guard of honour at the Kaeng Krachan Special Operations Training Camp yesterday, while those of the seven other soldiers were also being brought back. They are expected to arrive at noon today.

Meanwhile, officials at the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry called yesterday for adjustment of regulations on flying helicopters over forests, given there have been three chopper crashes in the past two years. Following an identification process, the nine bodies will be transferred to Surasee Army Camp in Kanchanaburi. Tawan's wife and grieving relatives were there yesterday to collect his body.

A search party, which included 15 Burmese soldiers, went to retrieve the bodies at 6am yesterday.

Once the bodies were removed from the wrecked aircraft they were carried away over a 1,100-metre mountain to another hill, where they were airlifted to the Kaeng Krachan camp for identification. The search party also found the Black Hawk's black box at the crash site and officials were checking Sornwichai's camera to see if it has footage that may help explain what happened and why the helicopter crashed.

The Black Hawk crashed on Tuesday just over Burmese border near Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. The eight soldiers and Channel 5 cameraman were on a mission to retrieve the bodies of five soldiers killed in a separate crash on July 16, two days earlier.

The five soldiers on the first helicopter were on a mission to pick up a group of rangers, journalists and suspected forest encroachers out of the jungle, where they had been stranded for five days. Bad weather was blamed for both crashes.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban offered condolence to the families of the deceased. He suggested that related agencies try to improve rescue missions in the future - to try to reach the scene of an accident within 24 hours in a bid to save any victims who might still be alive.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has reportedly accepted an invitation to attend a special football match, on July 27 at the Superkicks Stadium in Bangkok's Mengjai Intersection by the "Politic FC" political journalists' football team, to help raise funds for Sornwichai's family.

In related news, Permanent Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Chote Trachu revealed that Thailand has lost three helicopters on forest conservation missions due to bad weather over the past two years. So, he instructed the ministry's aviation division, which has six helicopters, not to fly when the weather was bad, as a safety precaution. Each flight must be authorised by the top officer - the permanent secretary.

Chote said reward money that he and 240 alumni of the National Defence College's 2010 class promised to give those who found survivors or bodies from the crash would go to the victims' families instead. The search party of soldiers and forestry officials insisted they were just doing their duty. They preferred it be given to the families of the deceased.

A Royal-sponsored bathing ceremony will be held tomorrow for the eight soldiers

-- The Nation 2011-07-24