Efforts to rescue workers trapped in a collapsed rail tunnel in northeast Thailand have been dealt a devastating blow, with news that all 3 men have died.
Rescuers had remained optimistic when scanners picked up vital signs and it was discovered that one of the trapped men was only about a metre away.
However, it was confirmed yesterday, August 29, that none of the men had survived. The first body was recovered from the high-speed rail tunnel in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday, with the two remaining bodies recovered this morning, the Bangkok Post reports.
According to Ekkarat Sriarayanpong from the State Railway of Thailand, the first body recovered was that of a Burmese worker, with the bodies of two Chinese men found about 3 metres away from the first victim.
The Chinese workers have been named as Hu Xiangmin and Tong Xinlin. However, the identity of their Burmese colleague has not been confirmed. All 3 men were working in the tunnel when a section about 1.5 kilometres from the entrance collapsed on the night of Saturday, August 24.
The tunnel is part of the high-speed rail project that will eventually connect Bangkok and Nong Khao province, on the Laos border.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
