Fresno County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team in California successfully retrieved the bodies of two Thai students on Friday, over a month after their car plunged off a cliff into Kings River late July.
Pakkapol “Golf” Chairattanasongporn, 28, and Thiwadee “Min” Saengsuriyarit, 24, was assumed to have driven off a cliff on July 26 as they were traveling to King Canyon National Park during their vacation. Fast moving water prevented U.S. officials from conducting the rescue operation earlier.
The two young Thais were students at the University of Florida.
At the rescue scene, the families of Golf and Min had a Buddhist monk with them to perform a religious ritual to send Golf and Min to a better place.
“The worry has ended. As Buddhists, we performed a ceremony to send my son to a better place. As a mom, I’m trying to accept the fact that my son has gone,” teary Supin, Golf’s mother, told Siam Town US.
Tony Botti, a spokesman for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, said the operation was the “first of its kind in 26 years,” as approximately 55 experts from three different organizations participated in the recovery at 5:30am on Friday, The Nation reported.
Officers used a helicopter to insert personnel and equipment into the gorge on both sides of the river. The goal was to extract two bodies from the Hyundai Sonata that has stuck against a rock for over a month, said a Friday statement by Sheriff Margaret Mims.
Officers first secured the bodies inside the vehicle before fastening a cable between the car and a Griphoist, a manual winching device used to pull large, heavy items. They secured the Griphoist to a very large rock for extra safety and ratcheted the car up slowly to an area with slower-moving waters where they could easily access the bodies.
The two bodies were removed from the gorge with a helicopter, ending a month-long emotional event felt by Thais across the globe. Some of whom criticized the U.S. for their delayed rescue because the students were not American.
“Conditions were monitored every day to determine when a recovery operation could take place. The flow of the river gradually were safer to attempt a recovery operation. Retrieving the bodies was and has always been the top priority,” Sheriff Mims said in a statement.
“I would like to thank the families of the victims for their patience and understanding during this long, difficult process. It’s always been our goal to deliver peace to you so that you could hold the necessary services for your loved ones.”
The car has been left at its new position in the canyon today and will be recovered at a later time. The Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy of the deceased Thais before handing the bodies to their families for religious rituals.
The families have planned to cremate Golf and Min’s bodies at a Piman Thai, a Thai funeral home in Los Angeles who will provide the services free of charge.
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