A woman and her three-year-old daughter died early yesterday after their river tugboat sank in the Chao Phraya River in Ayutthaya's Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya district, police said.
The incident took place at about 3.30am near the Pornpinitpittayakan School pier in tambon Sampao Lom as the family of four slept in their boat-cum-home.
Somyot Rangsichart, 64, the boatman, managed to pull his 12-year-old daughter from the sinking boat and she was able to swim to safety, according to police.
He also managed to help his wife, Maleethip Jangla, 54, out of the vessel, but she was already in a critical condition and later pronounced dead.
He, too, nearly drowned when being pulled from water by villagers. Police said the couple's three-year-old daughter remained trapped inside the capsized boat and her body was later recovered by divers.
An initial police investigation suggested the tugboat had been taking on water but the water pump failed.