Another major landslide in Nan, 5,000 people affected

Another major landslide in Nan, 5,000 people affected

Excavators begin clearing the huge heap of soil blocking Highway 1081 in Nan’s Chaloem Phra Kiat district on Tuesday morning. It was estimated it would take five days just to reopen a single lane.(Photo by Rarinthorn Petcharoen)
Excavators begin clearing the huge heap of soil blocking Highway 1081 in Nan’s Chaloem Phra Kiat district on Tuesday morning. It was estimated it would take five days just to reopen a single lane.(Photo by Rarinthorn Petcharoen)

NAN: More than 5,000 people living in 11 villages in Chaloem Phra Kiat district who need to go into the city area must make a 100 kilometre detour after a major landslide blocked their normal 30km route.

It is the second major landslide in the area in less than a month. The first killed eight people.

The landslide overnight dumped more than 30,000 cubic metres of earth on a section of Highway 1081, which connects Bo Kluea district to Chaloem Phra Kiat district and is the most direct route to the city for people in the 11 villages of tambon Khun Nan.

Chaloem Phra Kiat district hospital and the district office are in the city zone.

Sirichai Phukchaiphuean, director of the 2nd Nan Highway District, and Col Rattana Phatthanasophon, chief of the 32nd Ranger Regiment Task Force, were leading the operation on Tuesday morning to remove the huge pile of soil and reopen the road.

It was estimated it would take about five days just to open a single traffic lane. Then the construction of a retaining wall would begin to prevent more soil sliding onto the road before the landslide is fully cleared.

Three excavators were being used in the operation. 

The soil barrier blocking the road is about 4 metres high and totals at least 2,000 10-wheel truck loads, officials said.

Until the road is reopened the district office will provide a shuttle service for affected villagers who have to travel into the city area via the long route.

On Monday, tropical storm Bebinca made landfall in Vietnam and its influence triggered severe floods in this northern province.

On July 27, a landslide killed eight people and destroyed homes in Bo Kluea district. The victims were all members of the same family living in four homes engulfed by a torrent of mud that swept down the mountain.

Nan province governor Paisarn Wimolrat declared Ban Huay Khap, a village tucked in a valley, a disaster zone and ordered the evacuation of the 100 surviving residents. 

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