TRANG – A two-year-old girl, Parichat Noopinit, has been in a coma for more than a week since being electrocuted when she touched a bank ATM at a gas station.
The girl’s much older sister Panadda Bamrund said on Wednesday that she took her little sister along with her to withdraw money at a gas station in tambon Thung Krabue of Yan Ta Khao district.
She withdrew cash from an ATM of the Bangkok Bank situated next to an ATM operated by Siam Commercial Bank (SCB).
Miss Panadda said her sister touched the SCB machine and then fell down. She thought little Parichat had slipped and fallen over, but when she she tried to help her up she received an electric shock too. Luckily, a friend had driven by just then and rushed them to a hospital.
Her younger sister’s heart stopped and she was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation. She survived but remains in a coma.
Sukalaya Noopinit, 39, the girl’s mother, said Parichat was in a critical condition. The doctor said she had only a 40% chance of survival because of the serious damage caused to her brain.
A reporter found out that the SCB’s ATM at this location had been broken for some time and that other people allegedly received electric shocks there before.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the SCB said it would be responsible for all the young girl's medical expenses.
A bank official had been to visit the girl at the hospital and already given 50,000 baht towards expenses.
The statement said the bank's ATMs receive regularly maintenance nationwide. It would cooperate with technicians and the police to find out the facts about this particular machine. The bank has suspended the ATM service at the gas station.