Electrocutions claim 50 flood victims: DCD
The Disease Control Department chief believes about 50 people may have now died from electrocution while wading in floodwaters to move belongings and has warned people to take care.
Meanwhile, 400 elderly people from Bangkok’s Bang Khae Home for the Aged were evacuated to Ratchaburi yesterday in the face of approaching floodwaters.
Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) director Opas Phetmunee said the home had contacted his agency for transportation to the Saiyairak Haeng Krobkrua Project’s Learning Centre in Ratchaburi, and three buses – two of them air-conditioned – were sent to evacuate the elderly.
The evacuation would take 2-3 days, as the elderly needed special care, he said. Meanwhile the Soi Mooban Setthakij in Tambon Bang Khae Neu has flooded, prompting locals to evacuate yesterday.
The Disease Control Department chief Dr Pornthep Siriwanarangsan expressed concern over the growing number of deaths by electrocution. He said that although the official figure of fatal electrocutions in floodwaters stood at 17, his visits to shelters and talks with affected people gave him another figure – about 50 cases.
