Good Samaritan Dies Trying to Rescue Tractor Driver

A 23-year-old motorcyclist witnessed a tractor lose control and crash into a canal, so he immediately stopped and jumped in to help. However, the older driver could not swim, and combined with the strong current, both men drowned. On July 11 at 4 p.m., Sirote Petdee, a duty officer at Muang Phichit Police Station, received a report of a tractor plunging into the Muang irrigation canal with a good Samaritan attempting a rescue. The incident occurred near Irrigation Canal C-67 Gate in Baan Tha Pothi, Muang Old Subdistrict, Muang District, Phichit Province. Rescue units were mobilized to search for the two missing people. At the scene, a motorcycle and a pair of shoes were found by the canal. Within 30 minutes, rescue workers discovered both bodies underwater—the tractor driver clinging tightly to the young rescuer. Both bodies were brought up from the canal without vital signs. The deceased were identified as Surin, 70, the tractor driver, and Peerapat, 23, the good Samaritan who attempted the rescue. Both were neighbors from the same village. Investigation revealed that Surin was driving a tractor with attached cart back from farmland, just 400 meters from home, when he lost control and plunged into the canal. At the same moment, Peerapat was passing by on his motorcycle, saw the accident, quickly parked, removed his shoes, and jumped into the water to help. Unable to swim, Surin clung tightly to Peerapat, and the powerful current—caused by full water gate releases from Canal C-1 into Canal C-67—swept both men under, resulting in their deaths.