Wildfires in North claim more lives

Wildfires in North claim more lives

Villages struggle to control local blazes

More casualties were on Friday reported during operations to put out wildfires in the North.

A villager lost her life battling a blaze on Doi Khun Pae mountain in Chiang Mai's Chom Thong district.

A resident who did not wish to be named said the dead woman, identified as Tanee Kitcharoenpat, 41, had been on duty monitoring the fire which had started near her village on Thursday night.

Villagers had spent the day trying to suppress the flames and had appointed Tanee among a team tasked with keeping an eye on the situation overnight before efforts could be redoubled in the morning.

Local police said they received a missing persons report in connection with Tanee on Friday and, on searching the area, found her charred remains in a nearby forest.

In San Sai district, a village head died of burns suffered while attempting to extinguish local bushfires.

Moo 5 village head, Niphon Jaratham, aka Pho Luang Daeng, died on Thursday after suffering severe burns to most of his body and being rushed to hospital on March 9 after he and 35 volunteers had attempted to tame three local hotspots.

A soldier also died on Thursday en route to help extinguish a forest fire in Mae Hong Son province.

The body of Private Piyaphan Saensuk was found on Thursday evening near a fire-hit forest area at a village in tambon Ban Pang Karm in Pang Mapha district, according to Suwapong Kitipatpiboon, the Mae Hong Son provincial governor.

Pvt Piyaphan appeared to have fallen into a forest gully and become trapped as he was rushing to help douse the blaze.

The soldier was attached to Khun Chuang Thanmmikarat military camp in Phayao province but had been temporarily transferred to a camp in Mae Hong Son to help with fire-fighting.

The province is one of the hardest hit by the recent spate of forest fires. Provincial governor Suwapong said 51 suspected arsonists had been arrested.

Government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed his condolences to all the families who had suffered losses, including Pvt Piyaphan's, promising that assistance will be provided.

The latest aerial images show 571 hotspots in Chiang Mai, including 258 in forest reserves and 294 in conservation areas.

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