Heartbreaking moment as the father collapsed to his knees crying while holding the lifeless bodies after the mother saw her 3-year-old daughter fall into the water, rushed to jump in to save her but could not swim, and both drowned.
On 22 Mar 2016, reporters reported that at around 1:00 p.m. on 21 Mar 2016, Second Lieutenant Thawatchai Phimkinri, an investigator at Chanuman Police Station in Amnat Charoen Province, received a report of a drowning at Huai Thom, Ban Kam Nok Kok, Kok Kong Subdistrict, Chanuman District, Amnat Charoen. He coordinated with divers from Phetkasem Amnat Charoen Foundation to join the search and investigation at the scene.
Initial inquiries revealed that the mother and daughter had come with the grandfather, grandmother, and another child, five people in total, to check on their cassava farm. Due to the intense heat, the mother went down to the creek’s edge to wash her face, planning to bring the daughter to play in the water if it was shallow. When the daughter saw her mother by the creek, she ran to her but slipped on the rocks and fell into the water. The mother, driven by maternal instinct and worry, immediately jumped in to save her daughter despite not knowing how to swim. The current and significant depth of the creek caused both mother and daughter to be swept away and drown.
Initially, the Phetkasem Foundation team searched for more than three hours before finding the mother's body, later identified as Ms. Siriwan, 31 years old. When the authorities brought the mother's body ashore, the father-in-law, mother-in-law, and villagers joined the search and mourned the tragic event. Due to approaching darkness and insufficient oxygen supplies for the rescuers, the search was suspended temporarily on 21 Mar 2016.
Early the next morning, dozens of villagers gathered to continue searching for the 3-year-old girl, Natcharin, who had drowned along with her mother. By late morning, they found the little girl’s body at the same location as the mother’s, and together they recovered her lifeless body from the water.
When the father saw his daughter's body, he nearly collapsed to his knees but hurried to receive her lifeless form before falling down and crying while holding his daughter tightly. This heartbreaking scene deeply moved the villagers who had helped search, mourning the sudden loss of both his beloved wife and child.
After the post-mortem examination by the duty doctor at Chanuman Hospital, the authorities handed over the bodies to the family and relatives to proceed with religious funeral rites.