Lightning kills two Australians in Thailand
New 2:07PM Monday Sep 29, 2008
Two Australians, a teacher and a youth worker, are dead after being struck by lightning at a waterfall in north-east Thailand while touring with students from a Perth school.
Winthrop Baptist College social studies teacher Gregory Crombie, 41, and 19-year-old Thomas McGuinness, died after the group was caught in an electrical storm in Khon Kaen province late on Saturday.
Three Thai nationals also died after being struck by lightning, but the college says they were not with the Winthrop college student group sightseeing at the waterfall.
Mr Crombie's sister-in-law Thongsom Paggangwaesang told local media the group had been swimming at the waterfall when the storm hit at Mukdahan, 642km from Bangkok.
She said two bolts of lightning struck and several people collapsed.
"Before the accident, I saw a tourist talking on a mobile phone near the group," Thongsom said, who had acted as a guide for the Australian group.
Some of the students were rushed to the local hospital and then transferred to the main regional township of Ubon Ratchathani, 135km south-west of Mukdahan.
"It's tragic that Greg and Thomas have died, but obviously there are other people hurting as well, not just the college," Winthrop board chairman Rod White said.
"The only heart we take from that is that the college is a close-knit community. They will draw together and take some strength from each other.
"Also, we know that both Greg and Thomas were doing things that they were passionate about, and in a very small way I guess that sort of helps that ... they were out doing what they felt they'd been called to do."
Mr McGuinness, a friend of Mr Crombie from Perth, was not employed by the school but had joined the 14 Winthrop college students and teachers on a cultural exchange visit to Thailand.
Mr Crombie was married with four children, ABC Television said in a report from Thailand.
Winthrop principal Peter Burton and a counsellor had arrived in Thailand and met with DFAT staff in Bangkok, and they were now heading up to the Khon Kaen province to meet up with the distressed students.
Students injured in the storm had rejoined the group after medical observation.
Mr White also said students had been able to speak with their parents in Australia.
Baptist churchgoers at the college campus at Murdoch, a southern Perth suburb, on Sunday morning offered prayers for the dead and injured.
Mr White said the Baptist community was offering prayers for all the deceased, not just the Australians involved.
People attending a Baptist sports camp in the south of the state would gather on Sunday night to pray, he said.
"People have gone away for a long weekend so even trying to bring the community together in one place is not ... logistically possibly just yet," Mr White said.
"So as quickly as we can people are praying, and I guess the one thankful thing is that there is a lot of support.
"We obviously just need to work quickly to get the group home ... and assist the families affected."
Australian Embassy staff in Bangkok have been assisting the group, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said.
Federal Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull also offered his condolences to the families.
"All of us recognise Australians abroad when they're injured are worthy of our support and our care," Mr Turnbull said.
- AAP
Copyright ©2008, APN Holdings NZ Limited
New 2:07PM Monday Sep 29, 2008
Two Australians, a teacher and a youth worker, are dead after being struck by lightning at a waterfall in north-east Thailand while touring with students from a Perth school.
Winthrop Baptist College social studies teacher Gregory Crombie, 41, and 19-year-old Thomas McGuinness, died after the group was caught in an electrical storm in Khon Kaen province late on Saturday.
Three Thai nationals also died after being struck by lightning, but the college says they were not with the Winthrop college student group sightseeing at the waterfall.
Mr Crombie's sister-in-law Thongsom Paggangwaesang told local media the group had been swimming at the waterfall when the storm hit at Mukdahan, 642km from Bangkok.
She said two bolts of lightning struck and several people collapsed.
"Before the accident, I saw a tourist talking on a mobile phone near the group," Thongsom said, who had acted as a guide for the Australian group.
Some of the students were rushed to the local hospital and then transferred to the main regional township of Ubon Ratchathani, 135km south-west of Mukdahan.
"It's tragic that Greg and Thomas have died, but obviously there are other people hurting as well, not just the college," Winthrop board chairman Rod White said.
"The only heart we take from that is that the college is a close-knit community. They will draw together and take some strength from each other.
"Also, we know that both Greg and Thomas were doing things that they were passionate about, and in a very small way I guess that sort of helps that ... they were out doing what they felt they'd been called to do."
Mr McGuinness, a friend of Mr Crombie from Perth, was not employed by the school but had joined the 14 Winthrop college students and teachers on a cultural exchange visit to Thailand.
Mr Crombie was married with four children, ABC Television said in a report from Thailand.
Winthrop principal Peter Burton and a counsellor had arrived in Thailand and met with DFAT staff in Bangkok, and they were now heading up to the Khon Kaen province to meet up with the distressed students.
Students injured in the storm had rejoined the group after medical observation.
Mr White also said students had been able to speak with their parents in Australia.
Baptist churchgoers at the college campus at Murdoch, a southern Perth suburb, on Sunday morning offered prayers for the dead and injured.
Mr White said the Baptist community was offering prayers for all the deceased, not just the Australians involved.
People attending a Baptist sports camp in the south of the state would gather on Sunday night to pray, he said.
"People have gone away for a long weekend so even trying to bring the community together in one place is not ... logistically possibly just yet," Mr White said.
"So as quickly as we can people are praying, and I guess the one thankful thing is that there is a lot of support.
"We obviously just need to work quickly to get the group home ... and assist the families affected."
Australian Embassy staff in Bangkok have been assisting the group, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said.
Federal Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull also offered his condolences to the families.
"All of us recognise Australians abroad when they're injured are worthy of our support and our care," Mr Turnbull said.
- AAP
Copyright ©2008, APN Holdings NZ Limited
