Storm-toppled pole strands student for 3 hours

2026-02-18 - 03:13

NONTHABURI — 17 February 2026, Rescuers used a crane to lift a university student across a canal after he was stranded for about three hours when a power pole toppled onto a motorcycle shelter during a storm in Nonthaburi. Heavy rain and strong winds battered parts of the province from the evening of 17 February, felling trees and power poles, blowing down billboards and damaging a shopping mall wall, particularly in Mueang Nonthaburi and Pak Kret districts. At about 19:30, rescue workers were alerted to a power pole that had collapsed onto a motorcycle parking shelter inside the compound of the Ministry of Public Health, near the entrance to Srithanya Hospital on Tiwanon Road. Initial reports said a man was trapped inside. Officials from the Metropolitan Electricity Authority’s Nonthaburi branch were called in to cut the power supply. The single-storey shelter stands to the right of the hospital’s entrance gate, with a drainage canal running in front. A large power pole had fallen across the roof and over the canal, with electrical cables hanging into the water, prompting concerns about possible electrocution. The stranded man, identified only as Lee, a 20-year-old second-year university student, was found waiting anxiously beside the shelter after calling for help. Rescuers said live wires blocking the shelter made it too dangerous for him to walk out. Wading through the canal was also ruled out over fears of electrical leakage in the water. Authorities instead deployed a small crane, sending a rescuer across the canal on a sling to retrieve the student and bring him back safely, to the relief of those at the scene. Lee said he had been stuck near the motorcycle shelter for about three hours since around 19:00. He had taken the MRT to collect his motorcycle after the storm intensified. As he waited out the downpour inside the shelter, he saw the power pole crash onto the roof in front of him. He was unhurt but did not dare leave the area, unsure whether there was live electricity. He then called rescue services, who eventually brought him to safety.