Thai crash victims’ bodies retrieved
55-STRONG TEAM RECOVER CAR FROM RAVINE
>> CALIFORNIA: US authorities and volunteers have managed to retrieve bodies of two Thai students from a deep ravine where their car had fallen more than a month ago, following previous delays due to treacherous terrains, the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles says.
Though it was apparent their deaths resulted from a motor accident, US forensic officials still need to conduct an autopsy on the bodies. According to the consulate, the examination will be conducted after a brief funeral service performed near the spot after the bodies were retrieved in the early hours on Friday. The accident occurred one month earlier while two students, a male and a female, identified as Pakkapol Chair at tan a song porn ,28, and Thiwadee Saengsuriyarit, 24, were travelling in a rental car to the Kings Canyon National Park, California. An initial investigation found their car hurtled over a cliff and fell into the Kings River on July 26.
The car wreckage got stuck on the rocks in the middle of the river and the pair were presumed dead.
The strong currents in the river and the difficult terrains have hindered authorities’ efforts to recover the bodies. The delayed recovery had frustrated the Thai community in Los Angeles as they pressed for a speedy operation.
The recovery work was recently launched and it managed to successfully pull the wreckage of the car and the bodies trapped inside it from the ravine.
The Thai consulate on its Facebook page thanked the 55-strong recovery team, including officials from Fresno County Search and Rescue and California Highway Patrol.
The retrieval operation started at about 5.30am on Friday local time. A helicopter took some recovery team members to the wreckage site while others had lowered themselves down using a rope over the cliff.
They first lifted the car wreckage up from the middle of the river before shifting it to a nearby river bank. The bodies trapped inside the car were then taken out of the car and carried by a helicopter to a roadside above the ravine.
A roadside funeral rite was held for the victims’ families, according to the Thai consulate Facebook page.
The abbot of Wat Bramh ma car iy aka ram, a Buddhist temple in Fresno, presided over the rite, which was also joined by Khit Chatpraphachai, adviser to Michelle Steel, chairwoman of Orange County Board of Supervisors, who has followed up on the retrieval attempts.