An abbot in Sa Kaeo died after being swept through a drainage pipe while clearing vegetation and debris from a waterway following hours of heavy rain in Wang Nam Yen district yesterday, September 20.
Rescue volunteers from the Sawang Sa Kaeo Foundation’s Wang Nam Yen unit were called to the meditation centre at about 4.30pm. Residents had already pulled the monk from the water when rescuers arrived, and attempts to resuscitate him with CPR were unsuccessful.
The abbot was identified as 67 year old Phra Chaiyaporn, head of the Luang Pu Samrit Phon Phothiyan Meditation Centre. His body was taken to Wang Nam Yen Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Phra Chan Thanapalo, a monk at the centre, said heavy rain had continued for several hours that afternoon, sending a large volume of water into the canal in front of the grounds.
Phra Chaiyaporn noticed grass and other debris obstructing the flow and went down to clear it.
The current was still strong, and witnesses said the abbot was pulled into a drainage culvert about 1 metre in diameter and carried through to the other side.
A nearby resident noticed part of a monk’s robe near the downstream end of the culvert and alerted monks at the centre.
Following the examination, his body was taken to Wat Wang Nam Fon in Wang Mai subdistrict, Wang Sombun district, for religious rites.
Residents later described Phra Chaiyaporn as hardworking and said he regularly carried out maintenance and improvements around the grounds himself.
The incident came amid flooding and persistent heavy rain in several parts of Thailand. In Phang Nga, floods affected about 1,000 households across parts of Takua Pa district, with water exceeding 2 metres in some of the worst-hit areas.
In similar news:
- Heavy rain floods Sukhumvit Road in Pattaya
- Tourists rescued from resorts after flash floods hit Saraburi
- Nan floods leave two dead, affect 16,000 people
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