WWII locomotive to be salvaged from Thai river

Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-10 19:09:57|Editor: Yurou
Video PlayerClose

BANGKOK, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- An old steam-engined locomotive, used during the Seocnd World War and remained submerged in a river in western Thailand, will be retrieved, an academic said on Monday.

Authorities plan to salvage the Japanese steam-engined locomotive, believed to have been derailed and sunk into Mae Klong River in Ratchaburi province in 1944, according to Suchart Chantharawong of Ratchaburi Studies Institute.

The steam-engined locomotive, believed to weigh 37 to 49 tons, currently remains under water beneath an old railway bridge Chulalongkorn in the urban area of Ratchaburi, about 100 km southwest of Bangkok, the academic said.

Near the Japanese locomotive are several submerged explosives believed to have been dropped from combat aircraft during WWII but they apparently remained dud, he said.

He confirmed that local villagers had earlier dived in Mae Klong River and found the locomotive and explosives under water beneath the wooden railway bridge.

A dual-track railway, which will be built to link Ratchaburi with Hua Hin beach resort, about 200 km south of Bangkok, is designed to cross the river in that area.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001374587091