Four workers suffocate in abandoned well in Phang Nga

Four workers have died of suspected suffocation after descending into an abandoned well at an oil palm plantation in Khura Buri district of Phang Nga today.

EMTs and rescue teams rushed to the scene after being alerted by workers at the plantation that their four colleagues had apparently lost consciousness after entering the six-metre-deep well to remove silt and other debris.

Emergency workers were, however, unable to pull the four men from the well due to a lack of oxygen in the confined space. They immediately sought help from the Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, which dispatched a crew and special rescue equipment to the scene.

The bodies of the four victims were eventually extracted from the well one by one.

A rescue official said he suspects that the first worker may have lost consciousness due to the lack of oxygen in the well, prompting another to attempt a rescue, but he also lost consciousness. The other two met the same fate when they tried to help their colleagues.

The bodies of the four victims have been taken to the district hospital for autopsy.