One Thai tourist died and five others were injured when a hotel building at Siam Beach Hotel on Koh Chang collapsed on Saturday.
The sole casualty was a Thai woman named Kotchakorn Thammachak, 37. It took rescue workers four hours to remove the five injured people from the collapsed building, according the Bangkok Post.
Among the five injured tourists was a three-year-old child. Some of the people trapped in the collapsed building suffered serious injuries, Thairath reported.
The victims were Pairoj Wiriyarak, 54, and his wife, Walee Sunthornsarn, 37, whose hip was crushed by the concrete debris. Their 3-year-old son, Reeong Wiriyarak, had a broken leg. The family is receiving treatment at Trat Hospital.
The two other victims were Thatthanat Wiriyabut, 39, who received serious wounds to his feet while Joranee Pandokmai, 35, had a fractured tailbone.
The two-story building in Kaibae village tumbled after an early morning rain storm on Koh Chang, in Trat. Kotchakorn died on the scene, according to The Nation.
Kamthon Wehon, the Koh Chang district chief, said that all of the trapped tourists were rescued that morning and taken to local hospitals for treatment.
Kamthon noted that all of the the injured tourists were Thai people from Bangkok. There were eight tourists staying in the building at the time of the accident.
He said that officials suspect the building collapsed because the rain caused the land beneath the building to slide and that it also may have been poorly built. The Provincial Department of Public Works and the police are working to determine what caused the building to tumble.
Trat governor Channa Iemsaeng noted that the building had been built over a wetland area.
There are other buildings in the same resort that were built in the same way ot on the same kinds of land. For that reason, Siam Beach Resort will be closed indefinitely and the area declared a disaster zone. Each building would need to pass a safety inspection before being allowed to reopen.
All of the victims will be compensated by the hotel, though the amount is not yet known. Officials may also start proceedings against the hotel if the collapse if found to be due to negligence or poor building.
The governor has directed district and municipal authorities to inspect the safety of every hotel and several other buildings on Koh Chang. Any found unsafe would be closed.
