The tourist is believed to have been injured after falling off the train. (Representative pic)
A Canadian tourist in Thailand died on Wednesday after falling from a moving train en route to “Death Island”. According to The Independent, 24-year-old Ryan Joseph Ralph was travelling with his British girlfriend Shona Morgan, 22, when he fell from the overnight locomotive from Bangkok on March 20. Ms Morgan had flown to Thailand to be with his boyfriend, who had been travelling in the country for just over a month, to celebrate his birthday. The couple were trying to reach Koh Tao island in the south of Thailand when the tragedy struck.
A couple of hours into the journey, Mr Ralph had left his girlfriend sleeping while he went for a cigarette at the end of the carriage, many of which have no doors or barriers. As per The Independent, the tourist is believed to have been injured after falling off the train before being pulled briefly along the tracks.
Ms Morgan said she raised the alarm when she woke up an hour later and he was missing. Nearly 200 police officers and rescuers then joined a search for the 24-year-old. Police believe that the tourist lost his footing while the train was still moving, before dragging himself underneath to escape the wheels. However, he later passed out and died from blood loss, the outlet reported.
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The couple had been planning to celebrate Mr Ralph’s birthday at Koh Island, which has been dubbed “Death Island” following the 2014 murders of two British tourists. He was found dead on Thursday, under a newly built platform at a station in the Ratchaburi province. Cops said that he was found with severe injuries on both legs.
“He had in his pocket a wallet containing various documents and Thai banknotes,” Police Lieutenant Colonel Rathnont Kasemchaisit said. “From the preliminary investigation, there were no traces of assault,” he added.
Separately, a rail worker said he was shocked when he found the 24-year-old dead.
Meanwhile, there have been a series of deaths on Thailand’s trains which are often blamed for poor safety standards. In 2014, a 19-year-old died when he fell from a train on the same route, as per the outlet. In 2017, a 20-year-old British tourist was also left in intensive care after falling from a moving train on the same journey.