Incident occurred early Thursday near Nong Prue, Pattaya

CCTV footage shows men walking flooded road before one is swept away

Police find wet clothing, computer equipment at rented housing

Bangkok declares all 50 districts flood disaster zones

Residents wade through a flooded street in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday amid heavy rainfall. [Reuters]
Residents wade through a flooded street in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday amid heavy rainfall. [Reuters]

A man presumed to be South Korean has gone missing after being swept away by floodwaters near Pattaya, one of Thailand's most popular tourist destinations. Local police are conducting a search while working to locate two other men who were with him at the time and to confirm the missing man's identity.

According to local media, the incident occurred around 5 a.m. Thursday in the Nong Prue area near Pattaya, in the central province of Chonburi.

Three men were making their way along a flooded road when two fell into a drainage channel beside it. One managed to climb back onto the road, but the other was swept away by the strong current and disappeared. The incident was reportedly captured on nearby closed-circuit television cameras.

Heavy rain had fallen over the Pattaya area for more than an hour that day, flooding roads across the district.

Local rescue authorities deployed divers to search the drainage channel and surrounding waterways but have not found the missing man. Weather conditions have hampered the search, according to reports.

Police are also trying to locate the two other men who were present at the time. They are believed to have left the scene afterward.

Officers searched a house about one kilometer from the accident site, where they found wet clothing similar to what the men in the CCTV footage were wearing, along with computer equipment.

The landlord told police that three South Korean men had signed a one-year lease and had been living at the property since Sept. 12. Police are working with immigration authorities to determine whether the three tenants are the same individuals seen in the CCTV footage. The origin and purpose of the computer equipment are also under investigation, though no connection to criminal activity has been established so far.

Bangkok has suffered widespread damage from record rainfall. Nearly 300 millimeters of rain fell over roughly 48 hours beginning Thursday, causing major canals to overflow and flooding roads and homes across the capital. As the damage spread, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration declared all 50 of its districts flood disaster zones.

As of Sunday, floodwaters had yet to recede in some areas. Cumulative rainfall over the past two to three days reached up to 320 millimeters, and vehicle traffic remained difficult on roads near some canals.


kwater@heraldcorp.com