A fully loaded ten-wheeler with faulty brakes ploughed into 12 other vehicles in Rayong province Wednesday night, killing one person and injured many others.
The wreck after the 13-vehicle pile-up in Ban Chang district, Rayong (photo by Jumphol Nikomruk)
The accident happened on Ban Chang-Yaira Road in Ban Chang district at about 7pm. The truck registered in Rayong violated a rush-hour urban-entry ban in the heart of the district and hit four passenger cars, four motorcycles, two pickup trucks, a minivan and a full-size van.
Upon impact, the passenger van was tossed onto two passenger cars. Prasert Patarakulpong, 59-year-old motorcyclist, was squeezed between a passenger car and a pickup truck. He succumbed to his injuries later.
The Injured included two seriously hurt people rushed to Ban Chang Hospital. Some of vehicles were pushed into roadside shops.
Police arrested truck driver Pornsak Chaikham.
Pol Lt Col Prasert Techama, an interrogator of the Ban Chang police station, said the truck, loaded with cassava, came from Samnak Thon sub-district and was transporting its load to a factory in Ban Chang district.
The truck sped onto the small urban road. When its brakes failed, the driver tried to sound his horn and swerve to avoid a crash, but failed.
A hit pickup truck smashed into a roadside shop in Rayong Wednesday night. (Photo by Jumphol Nikomruk)