Five Rescued From Pickup Swept Into Floodwaters on Sukhumvit Road
Flash floods swept a pickup truck into a roadside depression on Sukhumvit Road in Rayong on September 27, trapping a noodle vendor and her family until a container truck driver and disaster officer rescued all five people using ropes after
A desperate rescue operation saved five lives after a flash flood swept a pickup truck into a depression on Sukhumvit Road in Rayong's Mueang district on September 27 at around 3 p.m. The truck, carrying a noodle vendor and her family heading toward Klaeng district, was struck by a violent surge of water and became trapped. A container truck driver traveling behind them immediately stopped his rig across the floodwaters to prevent the pickup from sliding deeper into the road pit, which could have caused everyone to drown.
After the incident, the noodle vendor and her family climbed onto the pickup's roof. Sittisak Saengrat, a disaster prevention officer from the Klaeng-Kachad subdistrict municipality, arrived with two ropes and made the dangerous decision to swim across the raging floodwaters to reach the container truck's roof. He then threw the ropes to the driver, who tied them around each family member's waist one by one, pulling them up to the container truck's roof. Due to the continuing force of the floodwaters, a rescue boat could not reach the scene, and all five people remained stranded on the container roof for over three hours until conditions improved. They eventually used ropes to lower themselves from the container and walked along a guardrail to reach safe ground.
Authorities report that Rayong's coastal areas are experiencing high sea levels, which is preventing floodwaters from draining into the ocean. Combined with ongoing rain, officials are monitoring the situation closely.
