NAKHON SI THAMMARAT — A 65-year-old man and his wife and nephew narrowly escaped death after he drove his pickup through a guarded railway crossing and was hit by a train early on Sunday morning.
The accident occurred on the crossing about 300 metres from Nabon train station in tambon Nabon of Nabon district at 6.30am.
Rescue workers pulled the driver, Sutin Buatip, his wife Kasemsook, 59, and their 14-year-old nephew Thammarin from the wreck and took them to hospital. They were only slightly injured because the train was slowing down and preparing to stop at Nabon station, Pol Lt Col Prapan Daecharat, an investigator with Nabon police station said.
Mr Sutin said he decided to dodge around the safety barrier because he thought he could get cross to the other side of the crossing before the train reached it. The elderly driver believed the family escaped death or serious injury because of supernatural help from the amulets he and his nephew were carrying.
But the train driver Thammarong Jaritngarm thought otherwise.
“Luckily I was slowing down and the severity of the crash was diminished, and so the whole family has survived.”
He added all warning systems at the crossing were working properly but the pickup drove around the barrier and cut in front of him.
The Buatip family travelled from Trang province earlier this morning to take the 14-year-old to Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Phipun district.
Video clip supplied by Nucharee Rakrun