Twenty- five people lost their lives when a mini-bus crashed head on with a pickup truck in Chon Buri and both vehicles were engulfed in flames following an explosion.
The accident killed 14 people in the van and another 11 people in the pickup truck, including at least two children.
The bodies of all victims were taken to the local Ban Bueng Hospital for identification, so that families could be notified.
The van, carrying passengers from Chanthaburi to Bangkok, was heading for Rayong when the accident occurred.
It appears that the van driver may have fallen asleep behind the wheel, as the vehicle ploughed into the dividing gutter towards oncoming traffic in the opposite lanes. It then crashed head-on with the pickup truck, which had a Bangkok licence plate, leaving all its occupants dead due to the impact.
Passers-by were unable to help as both vehicles were engulfed in the resulting blaze.
A witness said he heard a loud bang after the crash that started the fire. “The passengers cried for help but onlookers could not get close to the burning vehicles. We saw them die in the fire,” he said.
An official working for the local transport office said they had found that the van’s gas cylinder was not damaged by the impact of the crash, so it was unlikely to have directly started the fire. However, further examination by experts would be needed to determine the cause of the accident and the blaze.
This was a tragic accident that saw so many people lose their lives in horrific circumstances and the Buriram Times sends its condolences to the families of the victims.
Sadly, road casualties continued to rise over the first four of the “seven dangerous days” accident watch period, as millions of people travel on their way back from the long New Year break.
A total of 280 people were killed and 2,877 injured in 2,712 road accidents between last Thursday and Sunday, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said yesterday.
On Sunday alone, there were 751 road accidents, leaving 81 people dead and 778 others injured.
(Source: The Nation,Thailand)