Funerals planned for Thai students dead in California crash

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Relatives of two exchange students from Thailand who were killed in California are planning funeral ceremonies after their bodies were pulled from a mangled rental car lodged on boulders in the middle of a river, a Thai diplomat said Tuesday.

A recovery team reclaimed the two bodies on Friday from the car in the Kings River near Fresno, more than a month after it careened down a 500-foot (152-meter) cliff on July 26.

Relatives of the two victims endured weeks of waiting before the team felt it was safe to enter the dangerous rapids deep in a gorge.

"It was agonizing for them," said Tanee Sangrat, consul general at Thailand's consulate in Los Angeles.