Elderly Woman Dies During Hatyai Floods, Daughter Had to Put Body in Fridge While Awaiting Rescue

Multiple areas in Southern Thailand are currently hit by severe flooding, and sadly, the disaster has claimed many lives.

One of them was an elderly woman whose death happened in heartbreaking circumstances.

A woman in Hatyai placed her mother’s body in a fridge amid rising floodwaters 

The elderly woman and her daughter were trapped in the flood that hit their home in the Ban Pru district, Hatyai in Songkhla Province, and while waiting for rescue, the elderly woman succumbed to her exhaustion before drowning in the floodwaters.

Her daughter wanted to avoid her mother’s corpse being washed away by the rising water.

She placed her mother’s body into a fridge and climbed onto another fridge while waiting for rescue.

At that time, the water level had almost reached the house ceiling

The Sarasin Team, a volunteer group that is conducting disaster relief in Hatyai, posted the rescue video on Facebook on Tuesday (25 November), and said they found the water to be as deep as 1.8 metres after they entered the house.

The Sarasin Team has been conducting rescue operations in the district following the flood that hit the region. They managed to rescue the daughter from the flood, who patiently stayed on the fridge.

“This is heartbreaking. We’re too late. Only the daughter survived,” Sarasin Team remarked in the post.

A once-in-a-300-year rain

In a report by CNN, the disaster has been described as a “once-in-a-300-year rain”, bringing floodwaters more than 8 feet high. As of yesterday, at least 19 people lost their lives in the disaster.

The heaviest rain was seen in Hatyai city, a major centre of transportation and trade in Songkhla Province, which recorded “the heaviest rain in 300 years,” according to the country’s Royal Irrigation Department.

Many Malaysians were also trapped in the flood, and at the time of writing (25 November), rescue efforts are being done to evacuate the tourists who are trapped in multiple hotels in Hatyai.

Also read: M’sian Sends Rescue for Husband Stranded by Hatyai Flood, Turns Out He’s Been Staying With a Female ‘Colleague’