CHAIYAPHUM — A three year old girl was killed and her mother and brother, 5, badly injured after their motorcycle collided with a six-wheel truck whose driver had made a sudden U-turn to avoid a police checkpoint.
The accident occurred at kilometre marker 5 on Highway No 201 in Muang district on Sunday afternoon while Nongrak Aumcheelong was riding a motorcycle with her two children behind an Udon Thani-registered six-wheel truck driven by Sumrej U-sai, 35.
Sooksan Traithip, chief investigator at Muang Chaiyaphum police station, said Mr Sumrej suddenly slowed his vehicle and made a quick U-turn when he was about 400 metres from a police checkpoint.
Mrs Nongrak failed to brake in time and her motorcycle ran into the middle of the truck. The crash killed the three-year-old girl at the scene while the mother and her son are in intensive care at Chaiyaphum Hospital.
The truck belonged to a company which sells galvanised iron sheeting and tiles in Udon Thani. The driver would initially face a charge of reckless driving causing death, Pol Col Sooksan said.
A search of his vehicle did not find illegal items but police believed Mr Sumrej may have consumed drugs and was trying to elude the police checkpoint. The Udon Thani native has been sent for a medical test to check for illegal substances in his body and would face an additional charges if the tests prove positive, he added.