The alarm was raised on Saturday evening after only three kayaks out of four returned. The 27-year-old Polish man had phoned his friends to say he was far behind and would not make it to shore. The search resumed on Sunday at 5 am.
A search is underway off Phuket for a young Polish man and Thai woman whose kayak failed to return from an expedition off the picturesque Ya Nui beach this Saturday. On Sunday, police deployed a helicopter to assist in the search of the waters and islands off the southern coast of Phuket.
A search has resumed off the coast of Phuket near Yua Nui beach for a 27-year-old Polish man and a 23-year-old Thai woman who went missing yesterday afternoon while kayaking offshore.
The two missing kayakers were named on Saturday evening by authorities as 27-year-old Mateusz Juszkiewicz from Poland and 23-year-old Veerakan Sirivipakorn from the Tak fa district of Nakhon Sawan province in central Thailand.
Chalong police informed on the emergency on Saturday evening by local kayaking rental service
Police at Chalong were alerted to the emergency yesterday evening by a local Kayak rental operator who reported that only three kayaks out of four rented out to a party of Polish tourists and Thai women had returned to shore.
Missing Polish man phoned friends – said they could not make it back as they were too far behind
The incident was also reported to police by Polish friends of Mr Juszkiewicz after the Polish man’s kayak failed to return.
The missing man’s compatriots told police that he had phoned them as they headed back. He said that he and Ms Veerakan were very far behind and indicated that they would not make it to shore.
Following the telephone call, his friends were unable to reach the missing party again. The Polish man’s friends raised the alarm shortly after they returned to the beach at 6.30 pm on Saturday.
Immediate search as local fisherman called in with assistance from the Royal Thai Navy
An immediate search was put into operation by officials in the area who deployed local fishing vessels and sought help from the 3rd Naval area command.
Search focused on key islands
The search focused on the Ko Man and Ko Kaew islands which is near where Mr Juszkiewicz last made contact with his friends on Saturday. However, by 11 pm on Saturday night, the search was halted and scheduled to resume at 5 am on Sunday.
Helicopter took off Sunda with a friend of Mr Juszkiewicz aboard to assist rescue personnel
It is reported that a helicopter took off this morning from the headquarters of the 8th Provincial Police with one of the friends of Mr Juszkiewicz aboard to assist officers on board in the search for his missing friends.
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