Krabi landslides: conflicting reports
Thursday 31 March 2011, 02:42AM
Conflicting reports are coming in from Krabi Province of massive landslides following the downpours of the past few days.
Initial reports said that landslides had buried eight villages in two sub-districts with about 1,000 villagers missing.
Rescue teams from Phuket, including seven truckloads of volunteers from the Kusoldham Foundation, have rushed to help.
A Kusondharm spokesman in Phuket told The Phuket News, “So far about 200 people have been rescued from eight villages in two tambon, but many remain buried under the mud.”
However, an official at the Krabi Office of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), who gave her name only as Tanayawan, denied that the disasters were as bad as was being depicted.
She told The Phuket News landslides have affected three villages: Village 6 in Tambon Khok Han, Village 7 in Tambon Baan Na Khao, and Village 1 in Tambon Khao Din.
“Most of the damage is to farmland, not to people’s homes,” she said. “So far we know of only one death – a woman in Tambon Khok Han.
She added, “I have received a lot of phone calls about this, because of the stories of 1,000 people being buried. But it’s not as bad as this.”
Nantawan, a volunteer working for the ODPM agreed. “As far as we know, only 20 homes in Tambon Khok Han have been affected,” she said.
Another landslide on Tuesday night in Moobaan Islam, also in Khao Phanom, reportedly killed three people and left 300 villagers cut off from the outside world.
