Disaster and mitigation relief officials in northern Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province struggle to assist after a landslide cut off village access, affecting over 400 people.

Officials reported that villagers in Ban Mae Kopi, Mae Yuam Noi Subdistrict, Khun Yuam District, Mae Hong Son Province urgently need government assistance. Villagers lack drinking water, and the roads have been cut off.

Mr. Phachat Chomchobdee, a village headman in Ban Mae Kopi, Khun Yuam District, Mae Hong Son Province, said that more than 400 people in Ban Mae Kopi, Village 2, Mae Yuam Noi Subdistrict, Khun Yuam District, Mae Hong Son Province are currently in urgent need of food and drinking water because heavy rain caused landslides that have buried the road and severely damaged houses.

He said 40 students from the Mae Kopi school were trapped by the landslide on the other side of the village and had to spend the night without food or water.

Today, the villagers mobilized their forces to search for them and crossed the Mae Kopi stream to bring them back to the village. As the heavy rains continue, villagers have been forced to flee their homes, fearing further landslides.

Officials say the landslide damaged many rice fields, swept away five rice barns, and swept away three buffaloes and other livestock. Since yesterday, all telecommunication has been cut off, preventing the villagers from contacting their relatives.

The road between Mae Kopi village and Mae Yuam Noi village, a distance of 17 km, has been cut off and cannot be traveled through.

Government agencies, including the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and the military, have been dispatched to help the people and evacuate them from the area.