Thailand: Girl's gruesome death raises fear over water-gates' safety

[webfact]

Girl's Gruesome Death Raises Fear Over Water-Gates' Safety
By Khaosod Online



BANGKOK: -- A four year old girl was killed, her body chopped off, after she fell into Tha Rua Sluice in Ban Pho District, Chachoengsao province.

Reportedly, the girl fell of the bridge which lies across Khlong (Canal) Prawet Buri Rom. Her mother then called for help from the rescue team, but later discovered her daughter’s headless body in the water. The girl′s other limbs were also cut off by the water-gate fan.

Mr, Samroeng Rungsiri, 59, permanent officer of the Royal Irrigation Department and the victim’s grandfather, told police that his granddaughter was walking toward him, with her mother and grandmother accompanying her from afar. The girl then suddenly fell off the bridge and ended up in the tragic incident.

Autopsy for the child’s body is expected to be conducted as soon as the team gathers other parts of her body. So far, police ruled the case to be an accident, and did not press any allegation against anyone.

Meanwhile in Pathumthani province, Ms. Bupha Phuangphut, 48, form Sam Khok District, made complaints to Khaosod to urge related authorities to be responsible for the electricity leakage at a Khlong Koo, which had killed numbers of fishes in the water resource.

Local residents had tried to prevent any lethal accident by posting a sign warning by-passers not to get in the water in the area. However, Ms. Bupha said she is still worried as there might be some children who were not aware of the danger and might get themselves killed.

There are many people fishing nearby during holidays, which could be dangerous, according to Ms. Bupha, adding that many people had been injured from the leaked voltage in the area before.

Ms. Bupha hoped that her complaints would convince the Electricity Authority to inspect the area and tackle the issue as soon as possible.

These incidents have raised concern over safety of the canal water sluice gates in many areas, especially in the moment a quarter of Thailand′s provinces are facing severe flooding.

Source: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNNE1ERTRPVFUyTlE9PQ==

-- KHAOSOD English 2013-09-26

[animatic]

Why put up safety fences to prevent those unable to

comprehend the danger, from accidentally falling in?

No that would mean raising the budget or lowering the kick backs.

Let's not bother with it until after a gruesome drowning and

dismemberment of a small child.

[Billy The Kid]

Horrible Horrible. RIP to the little girl.

[DocN]

Is that, what I see there, said "bridge"?

And if not: can I safely assume, that whatever "bridge" was there, it didn't look much different from this?

What a stupid , unescessary, horrible ...and so easily avoidable death!

RIP, little girl

By the way: if that really IS the "bridge", maybe it is not the water- gate, that was unsafe!

Edited September 26, 2013 by DocN

[Jdietz]

Protection grille means they would actually have to keep it clean, and with all the crap floating in the klongs it's cheaper to just put it through the grinder. Life is cheap if it's not yours.

[tom21]

it should not be possible. looks like to class it as an accident , they do not have to do anything to prevent it happening again . I fell sorry for the family RIP

[lee b]

Oh my god, this is one of the worst stories ive read on here RIP

[ratcatcher]

Is that, what I see there, said "bridge"?

And if not: can I safely assume, that whatever "bridge" was there, it didn't look much different from this?

What a stupid , unescessary, horrible ...and so easily avoidable death!

RIP, little girl

By the way: if that really IS the "bridge", maybe it is not the water- gate, that was unsafe!

Doc, I don't think that the steel lattice framework carrying the water pipe is the"bridge". I can't actually see any bridge from the picture. They are usually concrete and part of the dam structure and one might assume they have a hand rail at least if used by the public to cross the klong, but, then again, TIT.

R.I.P.girl.

[Thai at Heart]

Water gate Fan? Is this a hydroelectric gate? What has Egat got to do with it?

No shield on the fan??? What the hell?

I can't see a bridge on there. Only can see a frame across the river

[jucel]

When I see the words written in Thai above, I give the place a wide berth, because if Thais think it is dangerous, then it positively must be! It says haam kao glai andalai. Rough translation is entry forbidden - dangerous.

[jucel]

bridge would be saphaan - ****Thai language removed****

Edited September 26, 2013 by metisdead
This is an English language forum, English is the only acceptable language, except in the Thai language forum where Thai language is allowed.

[Beng]

OMG. RIP

[Briggsy]

There are 2 unrelated stories here, one in Chachoengsao in which a 4-year-old girl fell into a sluice gate and was chopped into bits and one in Pathum Thani where there is the danger of electric shock around a small hydro-electric facility.

The headline refers to the Chachoengsao story.

The picture refers to the Pathum Thani story.

Journalism is severely challenged in this country.

I remember having a conversation with my friend who has a child with a Thai woman and he was saying about the fact that rural uneducated Thais never hold the hand of their child around dangerous place like busy roads or unguarded bodies of water but always hold their wrist to dangerously drag them off and on the bus. Would you let your 4-year-old child cross an unfenced bridge on her own?

[Soi Sauce]

Where is the bridge in the picture?

350 billion baht was meant to have been spent on flood prevention.

What was it spent on, please?

[GentlemanJim]

I think the police are certainly too quick to label this as an accident. Sounds to me like some very senior water board official should be facing manslaughter charges. That's the end of my sleep for tonight! RIP little one.

[whybother]

Water gate Fan?  Is this a hydroelectric gate?  What has Egat got to do with it?

 

No shield on the fan???  What the hell?

 

I can't see a bridge on there.  Only can see a frame across the river

If there was a shield on the fan, the kid would have got stuck against it because of the water pressure and drowned. She was effectively dead as soon as she hit water.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[GentlemanJim]

Water gate Fan? Is this a hydroelectric gate? What has Egat got to do with it?

No shield on the fan??? What the hell?

I can't see a bridge on there. Only can see a frame across the river

If there was a shield on the fan, the kid would have got stuck against it because of the water pressure and drowned. She was effectively dead as soon as she hit water.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

But if there was a shield on the fan she wouldn't have got chopped up. And it would have given vital seconds for someone to save her.

[Thai at Heart]

Water gate Fan? Is this a hydroelectric gate? What has Egat got to do with it?

No shield on the fan??? What the hell?

I can't see a bridge on there. Only can see a frame across the river

If there was a shield on the fan, the kid would have got stuck against it because of the water pressure and drowned. She was effectively dead as soon as she hit water.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

What is a fan doing in a sluice gate? Hydroelectric?

Putting that type of thing into a storm or irrigation drain is always going to have this type of accident if you don't have proper guards.

How do they stop debris?

It can't be that there isn't a guard. It would be clogged in minutes...

Edited September 26, 2013 by Thai at Heart

[jaapfries]

"So far, police ruled the case to be an accident, and did not press any allegation against anyone." ? ? ? ? ?

Ridiculous ! ! !

We're talking about a 4 year old little girl; who, herself, can NOT be held responsible.

The parents and/or guardians [whomever was accompanying the child at the time] SHOULD be held responsible for her horrific death ! !

In any other country; these people who were 'responsible' for this little girl; would be charged with Negligence-causing-death ! ! !

If these kinds of "accidents" go unpunished; then HOW are people going to learn to Take Responsibility ? ? ? ?

The only good news is, that this little toddler is now in a much better place, void of irresponsible 'carers' !

RIP little one

[Estrada]

Water gate Fan? Is this a hydroelectric gate? What has Egat got to do with it?

No shield on the fan??? What the hell?

I can't see a bridge on there. Only can see a frame across the river

If there was a shield on the fan, the kid would have got stuck against it because of the water pressure and drowned. She was effectively dead as soon as she hit water.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

But if there was a shield on the fan she wouldn't have got chopped up. And it would have given vital seconds for someone to save her.

Not true, why bother is correct, the suction would be too great for the rescuer also to overcome. The fan sounds like a rotating cutter to cut up the water hyacinths and detritus so that the gate does not become blocked. The safest device would be a constantly moving raked bar screen such as an "Aquaguard" which I used to sell and install in the UK years ago. This would quickly move the girl up out of the water where an attendant can make the rescue. The problem is that they want something cheap and nasty, safety is not a priority here.

[cup-O-coffee]

"Girl's Gruesome Death Raises Fear Over Water-Gates' Safety"

How in the name of Pete did they ever get out of the Fire Age?

Do Thais fear letting their children ride motorbikes? No.

Do they fear letting their children stay out all night without telling where they are? No.

Do they fear letting their children play with soi dogs? Nope!

Hmmm. But they fear water-gates? Apparently!

Why? Are they cross-bred with lemmings and get sudden urges to plunge their bodies into the gates?

Not necessarily, though at times it is difficult to tell when one observes their driving habits!

That being said, my friend, it is simply that they fear their own irresponsibility and lack of accountability when it comes to raising their own offspring, but are too ignorant and stubborn to know or understand what I have stated at this very moment.

Hence they have simply got to fear something that their undeveloped minds can understand, no matter how ridiculous it is to the rest of the world; and they do this all in the name of saving face when an innocent child suffers for their stupidity, irresponsibility to their own child and lack of accountability towards anything.

The headline should read, "Girl's gruesome death a grim reminder to know where your children are at all times".

Nahhh!

I didn't think so!

[Lucie]

"So far, police ruled the case to be an accident, and did not press any allegation against anyone." ? ? ? ? ?

Ridiculous ! ! !

We're talking about a 4 year old little girl; who, herself, can NOT be held responsible.

The parents and/or guardians [whomever was accompanying the child at the time] SHOULD be held responsible for her horrific death ! !

In any other country; these people who were 'responsible' for this little girl; would be charged with Negligence-causing-death ! ! !

If these kinds of "accidents" go unpunished; then HOW are people going to learn to Take Responsibility ? ? ? ?

The only good news is, that this little toddler is now in a much better place, void of irresponsible 'carers' !

RIP little one

So you think that the bereaved parents should be charged with manslaughter....

I think they may have already received way too harsh a punishment for any negligence on their part.

[realenglish1]

This is so tragic but again the quality of reporting and writing is terrible . When are you going to get real english speaking journalist

BANGKOK: -- A four year old girl was killed, "her body chopped off", after she fell into Tha Rua Sluice in Ban Pho District, Chachoengsao province.

There should be no mistakes . How can a "body be chopped off" It can be chopped up or appendages chopped off but this grammer is soooo bad I am ashamed t o even bring someone to

the Thai Visa web site because of stupid mistakes like this.

Common guys read your stories before their posted and do the corrections or write correctly before you post

So bad and my Heart goes out to the family about this tragic situation May God Bless

[GrantSmith]

Common guys read your stories before their posted and do the corrections or write correctly before you post

Pot calling the kettle black, no?

FYI - The admin here do not write the posts themselves, take it up with the media outlet who's job it should be to edit accordingly...

[WitawatWatawit]

"So far, police ruled the case to be an accident, and did not press any allegation against anyone." ? ? ? ? ?

Ridiculous ! ! !

We're talking about a 4 year old little girl; who, herself, can NOT be held responsible.

The parents and/or guardians [whomever was accompanying the child at the time] SHOULD be held responsible for her horrific death ! !

In any other country; these people who were 'responsible' for this little girl; would be charged with Negligence-causing-death ! ! !

If these kinds of "accidents" go unpunished; then HOW are people going to learn to Take Responsibility ? ? ? ?

The only good news is, that this little toddler is now in a much better place, void of irresponsible 'carers' !

RIP little one

So you think that the bereaved parents should be charged with manslaughter....

I think they may have already received way too harsh a punishment for any negligence on their part.

No, Lucie, no. This was horrific negligence on the part of people who should be duly punished for it. A 4yo running (I presume) ahead of the guardians towards a bridge to her grand dad. No right thinking adult would permit that.

[MMarlow]

This is so tragic but again the quality of reporting and writing is terrible . When are you going to get real english speaking journalist

BANGKOK: -- A four year old girl was killed, "her body chopped off", after she fell into Tha Rua Sluice in Ban Pho District, Chachoengsao province.

There should be no mistakes . How can a "body be chopped off" It can be chopped up or appendages chopped off but this grammer is soooo bad I am ashamed t o even bring someone to

the Thai Visa web site because of stupid mistakes like this.

Common guys read your stories before their posted and do the corrections or write correctly before you post

So bad and my Heart goes out to the family about this tragic situation May God Bless

Let's hope you're not volunteering yourself for the job; the quality of your post, your grammar and your spelling is much worse.

[BarryM]

"So far, police ruled the case to be an accident, and did not press any allegation against anyone." ? ? ? ? ?

Ridiculous ! ! !

We're talking about a 4 year old little girl; who, herself, can NOT be held responsible.

The parents and/or guardians [whomever was accompanying the child at the time] SHOULD be held responsible for her horrific death ! !

In any other country; these people who were 'responsible' for this little girl; would be charged with Negligence-causing-death ! ! !

If these kinds of "accidents" go unpunished; then HOW are people going to learn to Take Responsibility ? ? ? ?

The only good news is, that this little toddler is now in a much better place, void of irresponsible 'carers' !

RIP little one

So you think that the bereaved parents should be charged with manslaughter....

I think they may have already received way too harsh a punishment for any negligence on their part.

No, Lucie, no. This was horrific negligence on the part of people who should be duly punished for it. A 4yo running (I presume) ahead of the guardians towards a bridge to her grand dad. No right thinking adult would permit that.

Right thinking and adult. Two traits I found totally lacking in Thai society after five years of living there.

Mai pen rai, as they say. Its their country, just leave them to it

[RubbaJohnny]

RIP

Accidents happen everywhere.Let us hope lessons are learned and a meaningful safety culture develops.

As others note in a land where adults including teachers and cops ride without crash helmet providence is a steep learning curve,

[smoochy]

Terrible story. I could've done without the gruesome details over my morning coffee. Rest in peace.