UPDATE
The three boat racers who went missing in northeast Thailand after their boat capsized on Sunday have tragically been found dead. Two bodies were found at the foot of the Tum Lam Chi bridge in Maha Sarakham’s main city district. They were about 4 kilometres away from where the boat crashed into a pillar of the bridge.
A fisherman found one body in a bamboo clump, and another in a clump of water hyacinths.
Police were later alerted by villagers that another body had been found behind the drainage dam. The body of the third racer was spotted about 3 kilometres away from where the first two bodies were found, Khaosod reported.
The mother and sister of one of the deceased racers reportedly fainted upon hearing the tragic news. The families are now preparing religious ceremonies in the racers’ hometown in Buriram province.
The race organisers had not planned safety measures for the event, Khaosod reported.
ORIGINAL STORY
Three boat racers went missing in Thailand’s northeast province of Maha Sarakham on Sunday. The In-Plaeng boat capsized when it hit a pillar of the Tha Tum Lam Chi bridge, just after it had passed the finish line.
There were 40 people on the boat altogether. Another boat came to help, but three oarsmen were missing from the boat that capsized, TNA reported. A video of the incident shows the racers falling into the water.
The chief of Tha Tum police station, Colonel Wisit Narawang said that police were working with rescuers to search for the missing people. So far, no one has been summoned for questioning.
The captain of the boat said that the racers had stopped rowing after the boat reached the finish line. They then lost control of the boat and it capsised, he said. No one on the boat wore a life jacket because it is harder to row with them on, he said.
This news comes after two oarsmen tragically drowned earlier this month while practising for the Thailand-Laos-Vietnam Long Boat Race. Witnesses to the practice session informed the media that strong winds and high waves made one of the boats capsize. The boat overturned in the middle of the Mekong River, about ten metres from the bank.
Time will tell when more news emerges on the three boar racers who recently went missing in Maha Sarakham.