A young man who stole a mini-bus was beaten and stabbed to death by an angry mob on Thursday after erratically driving the vehicle along Bangkok streets for several kilometres, colliding with at least 10 vehicles along the way.
The damaged mini-bus parked in front of Lumpini police station after a thief at the wheel hit at least 10 vehicles on Thursday. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
Pol Col Chaiya Kongsup, chief of the Lumpini police station, said Sirisak Saengsri's body had multiple bruising and seven stab wounds.
Police were reviewing security camera footage along the route of his crazed drive to find out what happened and track down his killers, he said.
A police source said the 19-year-old man was stabbed and kicked by a mob of angry people as he was trying to flee the damaged bus.
Rescuers took him to a hospital but he died from his injuries, the source added.
A taxi is one of the vehicles damaged in the mini-bus rampage. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
The orange mini-bus, operating on Route 1 from Thanon Tok to Tha Tien, finally came to a halt after hitting a motorcycle on Rama I Road near Ratchaprasong intersection.
Sirisak stole the bus, operated by Mit Mass Transport Co, in early hours of Thursday and drove it along Charoen Krung Road, according to the report.
The first vehicle he hit was a taxi, struck at around 3am in front of Robinson Department Store in Bang Rak district. He continued to drive the bus through the Lang Suan area to Rama I Road, hitting at least nine other vehicles along the way, most of them taxis.
Pol Lt Surasak Sangkaew, an investigator at Lumpini police station, said four taxis, one motorcycle and one fruit pushcart were damaged in the Lumpini area.
Yannawa police station reported two damaged taxis, and Wat Phraya Krai police station said a taxi and a motorcycle were hit by the same mini-bus.
Pol Col Chaiya said the owner of the bus had filed a complaint with Wat Phraya Krai police that one of their mini-buses had been stolen.
He said Sirisak had worked as a conductor on the buses and was drunk when he stole the vehicle and began his rampage. It was not known what his motive was, he said.
Five people were injured and admitted to Chulalongkorn and Police General hospitals, according to police.
The taxi driver of the first vehicle said the mini-bus was weaving its way along Charoen Krung Road, like a snake, before hitting his car. The man, who was not named, said he chased the bus in his damaged taxi, and phoned the police to stop it. The bus finally stopped before reaching Ratchaprasong.
The bus was later towed and parked in front of Lumpini police station pending an investigation.