A Navy search and rescue team scours the
horizon for signs of the missing Russian tourist.
Patcharapol Panrak
On April 26 at 11 a.m. Vice Admiral Khant Thongpoon,
commander of Royal Thai Navy Region 1 in Sattahip, ordered 3 scuba
divers to search for a Russian tourist who had gone missing while
swimming in the sea about 3 nautical miles south of Koh Kram Noi off the
coast of Sattahip.
The next day, on April 27, officials of the Sawang
Rojanatham rescue unit received a report that the body of Russian
tourist Oleg Peminiaka, 37, was spotted by Long Kruafoon, a teacher at
the Pattaya Flying School who flew his para-glider in search of the
missing person.
The Russian tourist’s body was found on the rocks on
the east side of the island about 500 meters from the spot where he was
last seen.
Rescue workers transported the body to Bang Saray
village before sending it to the forensic department of the Police
Hospital for an autopsy.
Later, Long Kruafoon, accompanied by a colleague of
the missing person, went to see the police with the deceased person’s
passport to verify the identity of the body found. It was noticed that
the dead person was wearing a Casio watch on his left wrist and a black
woven band on his right wrist, which verified the identity of the
corpse.
Pol. Capt Athorn Jitrthin, the officer in charge of
the case said that they must wait for the results of the autopsy to
determine the cause of the lacerations on Peminiaka’s face and
shoulders. It could either be wounds inflicted by a person or could have
been caused by the body being smashed against the rocks on which he was
found.
Officials are now trying to locate the relatives of
the deceased to inform them of the tragedy and to take back the body for
religious rites.
