Regional News
Two Dead, 10 Injured after Van Driver Crashes into Back of Freight Truck in Northeastern Thailand
UDON THANI – Two people were killed and 10 others were injured when their passenger van smashed into a lorry with a trailer in Muang district on Monday.
The accident happened on Dong Rai-Ban Phue Road in tambon Ban Khao around noon.
After the collision on the four-lane road without a traffic median, the lorry and its trailer registered in Nakhon Pathom province blocked traffic as the driver appeared to have lost control of it in the rain.
Nearby was the white passenger van registered in Udon Thani and deployed on the Udon Thani-Ban Phue-Nam Som route. Its front was heavily damaged and its slide door fell out. The van belonged to Phetthawee Air Co.
A woman identified as Rungthiwa Baokham, 55, was killed instantly on the front passenger seat of the van. Its driver and 11 passengers were injured and sent to Udon Thani Hospital. An injured woman aged about 40 was later pronounced dead there.
Local street vendor Chompu Reeloh, 52, said that the driver lost control of the lorry in the rain and it slid to the opposite lane. The incoming van heading for central Udon Thani then collided with it.
Lorry driver Aniroot Jadpong, 38-year-old native of Udon Thani, first fled the scene but later turned himself in. He said he lost control of the vehicle on the slippery road and the van smashed into its rear wheels.
Pol Lt Col Ratchapol Morarat of the Nakha police station said since the road was frequently used by trucks transporting raw rubber, latex might have dripped on the road, making it slippery. Another possibility was the lorry driver might have dozed off, he said.
The lorry driver was charged with reckless driving causing death.
