Fuel tanker kills workers installing road studs

Fuel tanker kills workers installing road studs

Police inspect the wreckage of the six-wheel truck belonging to a firm hired to install road studs after it was hit by a diesel tanker which killed three members of the work crew, in Nakhon Ratchasima on April 23. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)
Police inspect the wreckage of the six-wheel truck belonging to a firm hired to install road studs after it was hit by a diesel tanker which killed three members of the work crew, in Nakhon Ratchasima on April 23. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)

Four people died and another was injured when an oil tanker ran into a road work crew before hitting their parked pickup and six-wheel truck on a main road in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Non Sung district on Thursday morning.

The accident occurred about 9.50am at kilometre marker 183-184 on the Mittraparb Road in tambon Don Chompu, Pol Lt Col Thanakrit Puengnuson, duty officer at Non Sung police station, said.

Police and rescue workers sent to the scene found a badly damaged oil tanker, and damaged six-wheel truck and Toyota pickup truck.

The driver of the tanker, Pongrit Bunyarak, 40, was found dead at the wheel of his vehicle, loaded with 13,000 litres of diesel. Some diesel was leaking onto the road so it was closed and declared the area off-limits for fear of an explosion.

The dead bodies of three other men were found near the wreckage of the six-wheel truck, and another  person was found injured and calling for help.

Two of the three dead men were identified as Ratchasak Charoensukulchaiporn, 35, a contractor from Sombat Construction Co hired by the Highways Department to install studs on the road, and a worker Chokchai Khiewram. The other worker was not identified by police.

The injured man was named as Suriya Akkhachart, 20, a company employee. He was rushed to Non Sung Hospital.

A police investigation found that the contractor and his three workers were installing studs on the inner traffic lane. The diesel tanker was travelling at high speed and ran into the road workers before hitting the contractor's pickup and six-wheel truck, Pol Lt Col Thanakrit said.

Police were investigating.

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