'I've really got to warn people against playing the mud,' Peterson said.

Signs are posted warning people of hazardous waters and mud flats. When the tide comes back in, the silt gets wet from the bottom, loosens up and can create a vacuum if a person walks on it. 'It looks like it's solid, but it's not.' The estuary travels southeast from the Anchorage area and parallels the Seward Highway, the only highway that goes south and delivers tourists from Anchorage to the sportsman's paradise of the Kenai Peninsula.Īt low tide, Turnagain Arm is known for its mud flats that 'can suck you down,' Peterson said. It lies across Turnagain Arm just 22 miles - but a 90-minute drive - from Anchorage. The accident occurred near Hope, a quaint community of about 80 people. The sand particles on the river bed lose their cohesion and become fluidlike.'I have been in contact with all my members, and they're all heartbroken,' Peterson said. The sludge can also be formed from above, when the bed is disrupted by the force of new water in the river, such as from flooding or heavy rain. This creates a loose and saturated mixture that acts like quicksand, losing its strength and being unable to support weight. Underwater quicksand can be formed from the riverbed being disrupted by water being forced up from a natural spring or aquifer. They will then be cremated in a traditional Buddhist ceremony at the village temple. Officials have retrieved the villagers' bodies for post-mortem examinations. We will confirm the cause of death from the police doctors.' 'There is nothing suspicious and we are not looking for anyone else involved. The officer said: 'We believe one person had become trapped in the quicksand and drowned, with the others also stepping in the quagmire when they rushed over to help. However, they believe the whole family died when they tried to help each other out of the quicksand. Police Lieutenant Colonel Thanormjit Kanyayon of Chumphonburi Police Station said officers had not found any witnesses to the tragedy. I will carry this pain for the rest of my life.' 'I have lost three generations of our family. I feel so sorry for them when I think about them dying in the sand, they would have been so scared. I cannot believe my whole family died in that way. My husband was experienced with the river. I didn't think they would all die like that. He brought along our daughter and grandchildren so they could play in the water, but after that, I couldn't contact him again so I called the police and went to search. However, Bang-on's hopes for the family's safe return were crushed when they were finally found three hours later - all five of them stuck in a pit of quicksand on the riverbed.Īn emotional Bang-on, who fainted when her relatives were pulled from the river, said: 'My husband said he would gather sand to lay the tiles at our house. There was a backpack, children's toys, and sandals, but no sign of the missing family members.ĭivers plunged into the stream to continue the search. They scoured the banks of the river before finally finding a tractor filled with sand next to the water at 3 pm. Police said that when the family could not be reached and failed to return home by noon, Wiriya's wife Bang-on Surit, 44, became worried and called the emergency services to search for them. Tragically, when the other four ran over to help, they were also pulled into the quagmire and submerged by the water that flowed above their heads. However, one of the children is believed to have disappeared underwater when they sank into the soft sand on the river bed.

Wiriya Khadchan, 45, his daughter Nucharin Khadchan, 23, and his grandchildren Waranya Pimthong, 14, Yaya Thongkhamsan, 11, and Foam Nucharam, 8, were collecting the earth to do building work at their home in Buriram province. A family of five including three children all drowned in underwater quicksand while they were collecting sand from a river in Thailand on Monday.

Small boy get stuck in quicksand