CityNews – A man has died at the Grand Canyon on Saturday after jumping off a five metre cliff into the water followed by another man who collided with him underwater, causing him to loose consciousness, drown and sink 10 metres to the bottom of the water.
On September 10, a group of young men were playing at the second area of water at the Grand Canyon, an area with steep cliffs which sees visitors jumping off into the water almost every day.
25-year-old Hassanai Channa from Lampang jumped from the cliff into the water, but before he surfaced another man jumped into the water in exactly the same place, landing on Hassanai’s head before he surfaced, causing him to pass out then drown underwater.
After Hassanai didn’t surface, other people at the canyon began diving underwater trying to find him, but were unable to due to the poor visibility and sheer depth of the water.
A CCTV video (Khaosod) from a cafe overlooking the water was shared by police to highlight the dangers of the canyon. In the video you can also see a third person jumping into the water after Hassanai had not surfaced, almost hitting the people trying to dive down and save him.
An eyewitness told CityNews that he just disappeared and never surfaced. They also said that just 15 minutes before, an Asian tourist went to jump but then got scared last minute causing her to slip and fall off the cliff, landing in the water dangerously close to the cliff side but was luckily unhurt.
Rescue teams were immediately called, but the man was not found until hours later after scuba diver teams found his body at a depth of over 10 metres on the canyon pool floor.
His body has been taken to a local hospital for a forensic examination to determine the cause of death before his family can take him home for a funeral.
The Grand Canyon was temporarily shut down by the Governor in Feburary 2016 after several deaths at the canyon. According to Chatkrarin Trakulinsan, the owner of the Grand Canyon, the area has been professionally operated as of the 9th April 2015 when a security system was put in place – guards inspect in the area and warning signs were set up both in Thai and English.
Life vests are provided at all areas of the Grand Canyon but visitors are advised to remove them before jumping into water as they can be very dangerous when worn during high speed impacts with the surface of the water.
CityNews advises people who want to visit the Grand Canyon do it at their own risk as apart from the Water Park, there are limited systems in place to protect tourists from injury or death.