PRACHINBURI — Two Filipino English language teachers in Bangkok experienced an unexpected accident while spending the Songkran holiday break leading a group of children and adults on a nature tour in Khao Yai National Park, when they were injured by a landslide.
Mr. Chaiya Huayhongthong, Chief of Khao Yai National Park, reported the incident to the Prachinburi City Police Station in the early afternoon of April 16. He stated that a landslide had injured two female Filipino tourists near the bridge leading to the second level of Haew Narok Waterfall in the Khao Yai National Park World Heritage Site.
Both victims received assistance and were transported to Aphaiphubet Hospital in Prachinburi Province. The first victim, Mary Ann, 38, suffered a fractured upper right leg and an open wound. The second victim, Cecil, also 38, sustained injuries to her neck. Doctors are monitoring her condition after X-rays of her cervical spine and an MRI scan.
Police officials revealed that the two Filipino women were leading a group of seven people—two children and five adults—who had traveled from Bangkok to visit Khao Yai National Park.
Before descending to view the lower level of Haew Narok Waterfall, while climbing the bridge to view the second level of the waterfall, a landslide of soil and rocks struck the tourist group. The debris hit these two women who were at the back of the group, after the children and others had already passed through.
The Khao Yai National Park Chief disclosed that before the landslide occurred, there had been continuous rainfall on the mountain for 4-5 days. As an initial precaution, he had ordered the closure of the path leading down to the lower Haew Narok Waterfall after discovering that the bridge railing was broken.
__________
