Press Release

Team support Britons after Thai plane crash

Three British Red Cross delegates flew to Thailand on 18 September to provide psychosocial support to British citizens affected by a fatal plane crash in Phuket. 

On Sunday 16 September One-Two-Go flight OG269 crashed on landing at Phuket airport. Of the 123 passengers and seven crew onboard, an estimated 88 people died and many more were hospitalised.

Seven British nationals have been confirmed dead and three are being treated in hospital, one of whom has been taken by air ambulance to a Bangkok hospital in a critical condition.

The delegates travelled to Thailand at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), which is responsible for providing consular support to Britons overseas.

The British Red Cross has fully trained volunteers on permanent standby to offer prompt support to people affected by tragedies overseas.

Support in Phuket

Team members Carol Leeds, Jo Parkin, and Pam Williamson have been accompanied by a member of the UK police disaster identification team. They will be working with an FCO rapid deployment team from Hong Kong.

In Phuket, Carol and Pam are supporting two groups of families of passengers believed to be dead, but not yet identified. They have also made visits to two young British men who are detained in hospital in Phuket but not seriously injured. The team is also supporting three injured and hospitalised passengers in Phuket from Ireland.

Jo Parkin has flown to Bangkok where she is supporting the critical patient, as well as family members who have flown from the UK to be at her bedside.

Thailand plane crash

Team leader Carol Leeds, from Sandy in Bedfordshire, said:

"We are offering practical and emotional support to people affected by the plane crash, whether for those who have been injured or people who may have lost loved ones.

"This can involve everything from listening to people who are experiencing trauma to letting survivors' relatives in the UK know that they are safe and well.” 

The British Red Cross has previously sent psychosocial support teams to Thailand after the tsunami and Ethiopia when five British embassy staff were kidnapped in March 2007.