Lt Col Kiattisak Saengmanee of the Kathu Police was notified of the accident, opposite the GSM Duty Free Shop on Phra Phuket Kaew Rd at 6:20am.
Police along with Kusoldharm Foundation and Kathu Municipality Rescue Service arrived at the scene to find a damaged roadside barrier and marks on the ground leading to a nearby lake. The vehicle could not be seen.
Witnesses told police that a blue Ford Ranger pickup truck with Phuket license plates failed to navigate the road, which resulted in the vehicle veering off the and plunging into the lake. A woman was trapped inside and failed to get out, the witnesses added.
Rescue divers from the Kusoldharm Foundation inspected the sunken vehicle and confirmed the woman’s body was still inside. It took more than two hours to take the vehicle out of the lake and retrieve the body.
The victim was identified as Chanpen Sombat, 50, from Patong. The identity was confirmed by the woman’s son and daughter who arrived at the scene while rescue workers were retrieving the body.
From the initial investigation, police believe that the woman was driving from Phuket International Airport to her house in Patong and lost control of her car on the slippery road. No other vehicles were involved in the accident, though the investigation is not officially finished yet.
Ms Chanpen’s body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for doctors to confirm the cause of death, which is believed to be drowning.