Indian tourists die in airport van crash

Indian tourists die in airport van crash

A passenger van ran into the rear-end of a parked water truck on an elevated road near Suvarnabhumi airport, killing two Indian tourists and injuring five other members of the same family, on Monday morning.

The horrific crash occurred on the five-lane elevated road leading to the entrance of the passenger terminal about 10.45am.   

Pol Lt Sumet Tabthong of Suvarnabhumi airport police station, said the passenger van was carrying eight Indian passengers, seven of them from the same family, and was heading to the airport.

The driver, Jakkrit Silawong, 24,  failed to avoid hitting a six-wheel water truck with warning lights turned on parked in the far right-hand lane.

The van ran into the parked truck. The force of the collision set the back of the truck on fire and the van richocheted into the middle lane .    

The water truck had a sign saying “landscape maintenance of Suvarnabhumi airport”.  It was parked with flashing lights on while the crew were watering trees under the elevated road. 

The van driver and two Indian passengers from the same family, one aged 68 and the other 29, died at the scene.

Other injured people included two airport employees on the water truck and six other Indian citizens on board the van, two of them toddlers aged one and two years. 

Five of the injured passengers are members of the same family as the deceased. The sixth was a 37-year-old man who sustained serious injuries        

Pol Lt Sumet Tabthong said Jakkrit was driving at high speed and failed to move over into the left lane in time to avoid the parked water truck. Surviving passengers will be questioned later to help ascertain the cause of the accident.

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