No date set for recovery of Thai students from California river

[webfact]

No date set for recovery of Thai students from California river

By Marisa Chimprabha 
The Nation

 

Fresno County's Sheriff Office

 

FRESNO: -- Facing possible protests for the delay in recovering the bodies of two Thai students and their rental car from Kings River in California, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office has still not confirmed when the mission will take place.

 

The office reiterated in its Facebook page that recovering the bodies is a top priority, but the safety of its personnel is also a top concern. “A date when this will happen is still to be determined,” the post said.

 

This is the first time that the sheriff’s office has revealed information on the July 26 accident involving Thiwadee Saengsuriyarit, 24, and Bhakapon Chairattanasongporn, 28, both postgraduate students at South Florida University.

 

The sheriff’s office has been criticized for the delay in retrieving the bodies of the students and the car that was found partially submerged in Kings River after plunging 150-metres off a cliff more than two weeks ago.

 

The office said bad weather, the strong river currents and geographical difficulties prevented it from mounting a safe retrieval mission.

Protests are planned in Fresno County and Los Angeles, by the Thai Amercian Community today as frustration mounts at the slow progress of the operation. Organisers have said they would proceed with the protests if the retrieval mission did not start today.

 

The Facebook page of the Fesno County’s Sheriff Office reported that Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, members of the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (SAR) team and military personnel held a meeting on Thursday to discuss potential plans to recover the bodies.

 

Earlier in the day, the military used a Chinook helicopter to survey the area. They captured new photos, which were in addition to pictures that had been taken earlier.

 

SAR said it would continue to consult with other experts in the field and monitor daily weather patterns and water flows as part of the recovery plan. Mims must approve any plan before it is placed into action.

 

On Wednesday, the parents of the presumed victims and members of the Thai Consulate of Los Angeles met with county leaders in southern California.

 

Sheriff Mims sent a written statement to the parents, which said: “I would like family members to know that recovering their loved ones is a top priority at my office right now.

 

“The Fresno County Sheriff Search and Rescue team has a lot of experience and is currently working to develop a plan that is safest for them to effectively do their jobs.

 

“I realize this is a difficult situation and want you to know that our goal is to recover your family members in a respectful manner as soon as an opportunity presents itself. We appreciate your patience and understanding.”

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30323499

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-11

[Just1Voice]

One family member said that if the U.S. rescue teams couldn't do it, they should send a Thai team to do it.  Yeah, right.  U.S. SAR teams are some of the best in the world.  If they can't do it, I'm sure as hell that no Thai team could do it, without the possibility of further loss of life.  

[petermik]

Mission impossible..........

[steven100]

20 minutes ago, Just1Voice said:

One family member said that if the U.S. rescue teams couldn't do it, they should send a Thai team to do it.  Yeah, right.  U.S. SAR teams are some of the best in the world.  If they can't do it, I'm sure as hell that no Thai team could do it, without the possibility of further loss of life.  

I believe a Thai team would have recovered the car and bodies already.

Very poor effort by the US,  Thais have every right to be pissed .... 

[rkidlad]

54 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I believe a Thai team would have recovered the car and bodies already.

Very poor effort by the US,  Thais have every right to be pissed .... 

The annoyed Thais must respect American culture and way of doing things. This is in America, and the annoyed Thais can never understand their unique and special culture. 

 

If you want someone to respect your culture, you must respect theirs. 

Edited August 11, 2017 by rkidlad

[idman]

The f..ook n waters in the river make any attempts out of the question. Everything that can be done has already been done. The dead bodies ain't no where and whrn it is safe to do so this sad tale will come to an end. The idea that the U.S. authorities in Fresno are dragging their feet is so stupid but typical of idiots who haven't got a clue and are just knocking the U.S. on general principles. As for the Thais being better able to get the bodies, what is in that pipe you are smoking??

[worgeordie]

Thailand would send in a helicopter,then another to save the crew of the first copter,

then another helicopter to save the crew of the first and second helicopter,third copter

 also went down,they have already done this,in the jungle bordering Burma, ended up going on foot.

regards worgeordie

[berybert]

How did the car end up in the river in the first place. ? Brake failure, driver didn't see the edge of the cliff, a moose forced him to swerve.

Feel free to add any other Thai accident phrases you can think off.

[tonray]

Those canyon gorges have hidden some accidents for years. I remember reading about a missing woman , she and her car disappeared into thin air at the time. Many years later, some hikers found her in the car at the bottom of one of these gorges embedded in underbrush. Quite a few more like that. Very inaccessible to people and equipment.

[Just1Voice]

I used to live in Phoenix, and had to drive to ShowLow once a month.  That's a very slow drive though the Grand Canyon most of the way, and if you go through one of the barriers, it is one hell of a long way down.  A quarter of a mile in some places.  Trying to rescue someone who went off there would be one hell of a difficult task. Once you get into the Canyon, from either end, the speed limit is 30mph in a lot of places.  Going faster than that is inviting death. 

[Jai Dee]

Several troll comments and replies have been removed from ths thread.

[kingstonkid]

For those that say they are doing everything 

 

Let me ask  If this was a couple of African American kids or white Americans kids how long would it take to get them out.

 

Let's face it mom and Dad are not in the US and have no power so they are piss @ssing around.  

 

The military can and could get in and get them and the rescue people could get them out if they were alive.

[gregk0543]

Ok Thai Visa always has a solutionist. Here is mine. Immediately send a drone to the car to get some good shots and prove the bodies are in the car. 

 

Then you need to start making a bamboo bridge out to the car. Send in a few burmese....

 

But I would not like to put other people in danger so a good drone survey would be the go. After that wait. No use spending a hundred thousand to extract this car.

 

[Just1Voice]

3 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

For those that say they are doing everything 

 

Let me ask  If this was a couple of African American kids or white Americans kids how long would it take to get them out.

 

Let's face it mom and Dad are not in the US and have no power so they are piss @ssing around.  

 

The military can and could get in and get them and the rescue people could get them out if they were alive.

So nice to see that you know so much more than the experts who do this sort of thing day in an day out for a living.  I'm sure they could use your expert advice and are anxiously waiting for your call. (Sarcasm DEFINITELY intended)

 

[cardinalblue]

I am familiar with EMS and OES in California and they are first rate in response and recovery..

 

in any field operation, responder safety is at the top of the list...my guess is this is what is delaying how to do the recovery safely...it involves critical thinking...

 

Ca rivers are very dangerous after a heavy rainfall/snow season...thailand doesn't have rivers like this one located in canyons like this....

 

what will be interesting will be the relatives' response when handed the recovery bill which they do in cases that are above and beyond routine operations....it will be expensive....

[gregk0543]

Send in the drones their aught to be drones....

[cardinalblue]

Kingstonkid...

 

I have yet to experience in usa, table 12, 3 farangs or Chinese or Japanese....

 

maybe be you can share more of your knowledge of American culture...

 

really an ignorant or naive statement by you...

[oldgent]

im just wondering if it was some high up big American in the car im sure they would have made

some kind of effort. the photos of the car must be very distressing for the familes 

[DrPhibes]

1 hour ago, gregk0543 said:

Ok Thai Visa always has a solutionist. Here is mine. Immediately send a drone to the car to get some good shots and prove the bodies are in the car. 

 

Then you need to start making a bamboo bridge out to the car. Send in a few burmese....

 

But I would not like to put other people in danger so a good drone survey would be the go. After that wait. No use spending a hundred thousand to extract this car.

 

The closer pics you have been seeing in the news are from drones.  No way to get down to there, 500 ft down sheer rock walls with no shoreline and ice cold rushing water.  Closer drone pics have already seen there are bodies.  If you look at the latest ones, there are blur patches where the bodies are in the car.

Edited August 11, 2017 by DrPhibes

[1duckyboy]

6 hours ago, steven100 said:

 

California had a record and drought breaking Sierra Nevada snowfall last winter which is still melting, resulting in ice cold, fast moving rapids. There's been several instances this summer of hikers and folks fishing, drowning when they underestimated the depth and speed of the icy waters and attempted crossing waters where they had done so previous years. Combine this with the frequent thunder storms this summer that cause the frigid  waters in those narrow canyons to speed up and rise quickly and it then becomes apparent why recovery teams haven't been sent in to retrieve the bodies. But this won't stop TV Yank bashers from venting their ignorant views.

 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by 1duckyboy

[joecoolfrog]

I suggest that the Thai American demonstrators should be invited to arrange the rescue themselves . If it is as easy as they seem to think then what is the problem ?

[1duckyboy]

The local sheriff, who is in charge of search and rescue, said a recovery attempt in such swift waters may dislodge the bodies from the wreckage and lose them forever. How would the Thai families feel about that outcome? Remember, this is a recovery operation, not a rescue, so there is no reason to put lives in danger. 

[FitnessHealthTravel]

I find it interesting that the comments are so supportive of the US Rescuers. If this were deceased Americans stuck in a car somewhere here in Thailand the comments would be very different.

 

[Chongalulu]

12 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

For those that say they are doing everything 

 

Let me ask  If this was a couple of African American kids or white Americans kids how long would it take to get them out.

 

Let's face it mom and Dad are not in the US and have no power so they are piss @ssing around.  

 

The military can and could get in and get them and the rescue people could get them out if they were alive.

What search and rescue qualifications do you have to support that opinion- or did it just pop out of that stupid (likely beer ridden) head of yours? 

[Ulic]

Near record temperatures on the US west coast melting the near

record snowpack from last winter. The river is both flowing hard

and ice cold. I doubt the river flow will slow until mid September.

I would love to see a Thai search and rescue team try to make

the recovery. Then the US SAR techs can go in and rescue them.  

[CWMcMurray]

17 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

For those that say they are doing everything 

 

Let me ask  If this was a couple of African American kids or white Americans kids how long would it take to get them out.

 

Let's face it mom and Dad are not in the US and have no power so they are piss @ssing around.  

 

The military can and could get in and get them and the rescue people could get them out if they were alive.

The key point of your post is "if they were alive"

 

in the US they highly value life and would not risk the lives of rescuers on a mission of recovery of dead bodies and a wrecked car

 

if there is a way to do it with high chance of success without death or injury to rescuers, they will do it... if not, they won't 

 

it has absolutely nothing to do with the bodies not being those of US citizens, as would be the same situation no matter who they were

 

here are just a couple of similar cases that involve US Citizen bodies 

 

Utah student's body can not be recovered as too dangerous, authorities close the cave

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/utah-cave-too-dangerous-to-recover-body/

 

too dangerous to recover the bodies of 6 climbers on Mount Rainier

https://weather.com/news/news/climbers-mount-rainier-20140601

 

 

Not it safe to recover the bodies of 6 people trapped in Mine

 

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2007/10/13/too-dangerous-to-look-for-bodies-in-collapsed-utah-mine

 

This is also not a uniquely US thing either..

 

From the U.K. 

 

5 year olds body not recovered , as too dangerous

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/780491/boy-fell-in-mineshaft-south-africa-body-left-rescue-declared-too-dangerous

 

Or how about from New Zealand

 

Authorities in New Zealand say it is still too dangerous to try to recover the body of an Australian buried under tonnes of ice at a South Island glacier where his brother also died.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/too-dangerous-to-retrieve-aussies-body-20090111-7e8i.html

 

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2017 by CWMcMurray

[Ace of Pop]

How did it manage to not just spin out off the Guard Rails.?.Even Trucks rarely do that.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[steven100]

19 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

For those that say they are doing everything 

 

Let me ask  If this was a couple of African American kids or white Americans kids how long would it take to get them out.

 

Let's face it mom and Dad are not in the US and have no power so they are piss @ssing around.  

 

The military can and could get in and get them and the rescue people could get them out if they were alive.

agree ....  any other talk of bad weather, risky etc .. is plain bs.

I bet if it were a couple of US army personal they would have had a helicopter winching that car out within hours. 

[joecoolfrog]

18 hours ago, FitnessHealthTravel said:

I find it interesting that the comments are so supportive of the US Rescuers. If this were deceased Americans stuck in a car somewhere here in Thailand the comments would be very different.

 

Unlike you I cannot read the minds of other posters but I can assure you that my comments would not change in the least bit.

[cardinalblue]

It sounds like they will lift the car by helicopter...if the bodies fall out so be it...

 

maybe a fisherman will hook one in October ...

 

these white water rivers are an incredible force of nature...