RESCUERS in Chiang Mai today (July 24) found the body of a 30-year-old Thai-Belgian tourist who had drowned while whitewater rafting in Mae Taeng river with two friends and a guide on Friday afternoon, Amarin TV said.
The body of Mr.Nicolas Hinckxt, who worked as a programmer in Belgium, was found at Ban Mae Taman village in Kuet Chang subdistrict, Mae Taeng district, around 10.5 kilometres away from the spot he fell off the raft after it had hit a rocky outcrop.
Rescuers immediately informed Mae Taeng district chief and Hinckxt’s relatives to go and investigate.
He had come to visit his relatives in Chiang Mai and took his two friends to go whitewater rafting in this river where the accident happened in heavy rain.
A team of around 150 people had been searching for him including policemen, volunteers, villagers and the tour operator’s rafting crew. A dive team too searched for his body in a rocky area of the river approximately 100 metres away from the accident spot, Sanook.com said.
His Thai mother had performed a ceremony at the river bank today in accordance with local beliefs and an hour later his body was found.
His body was taken for an autopsy to determine the cause of death before being released to his relatives for a religious ceremony.
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Rescuers searching for the body of the Thai-Belgian tourist who drowned in Chiang Mai’s Mae Taeng river. Photos: Amarin TV
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