6 Escape Unharmed After Toyota Minivan Goes Up in Flames

Six passengers fled for their lives when the Toyota minivan they were traveling in erupted in flames in central Thailand on Tuesday night.

Police from the Samut Prakan police station said the incident was reported shortly before 10 pm.

When police arrived at the scene they found the Toyota minivan completely engulfed in flames with two fire engines trying to extinguish the flames.

According to police, it took firefighters over an hour to extinguish the blaze.

The Toyota minivan driver Mr. Vachara Suksongkham, 49, told police he was taking six workers from a company in Samut Prakan to Ayutthaya province.

Soon after departing, he heard a loud noise from the minivan’s engine compartment. He then smelled smoke and saw flames in the review mirror.

He stopped the minivan and he and his passengers quickly exited the vehicle. All escaped unhurt, however, the van, which was powered by LPG Gas, was completely destroyed.

Pig Found in Toyota Minivan

In other news, 115 pigs were seized by the Animal Health Department’s mobile inspection team as they were being transported in a minivan.

Authorities intercepted a minivan that they suspect was smuggling live pigs across the border illegally from Vietnam.”

The Animal Health Department was following instructions from the Agriculture Ministry not to allow the trafficking of live animals over concerns over the African swine flu which has been detected in Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, and China.

A source told the Khmer Times that officials stopped the suspect’s minivan on National Road 13 in front of Kampong Trach Market at Ta Trav village in Romeas Hek district’s Kampong Trach commune in Cambodia.

There were 115 live pigs piled up on top of each other, and they are now being cared for until the test results return. The department confiscated the vehicle.