Three men were seriously injured when a pickup truck they were travelling in was hit by an inter-provincial passenger bus in Prachuap Khiri Khan in the early hours of Sunday.
An inter-provincial passenger bus travelling from Ranong to Bangkok and a pickup truck plunge into a roadside ditch on Phetkasem Road in Prachuap Khiri Khan in the early hours of Jan 4.(Photo by Chaiwat Satyaem)
The crash took place at kilometre marker 383 on Phetkasem Road in tambon Ron Thong in Bang Saphan district at about 10 minutes past midnight, said Pol Lt Lert Sriraksa, of Bang Saphan district police station.
Police and rescue workers rushed to the scene and found an overturned Bangkok-Ranong inter-provincial passenger bus in a roadside ditch. A badly-damaged pickup truck was seen in front of the bus.
Three men were found trapped in the wreckage of the pickup truck. All sustained serious head injuries and were retrieved from the vehicle by rescue workers.
They were identified as Paisarn Intharasuk, 46, Pairat Intharasuk, 41, and Banphot Khaimpan, 45. They were rushed to a nearby hospital.
All passengers on the bus escaped unhurt. As the bus was damaged, they had to wait an hour for another bus to continue on to Bangkok.
Driver Veera Sukkaew told police his air-conditioned bus with 20 passengers was travelling safely along the road when the pickup suddenly emerged from a lane and cut in front of it, leading to the crash. The impact caused the two vehicles to plunge into the roadside ditch.