BURI RAM: Two people were killed and another seven injured in a collision between their pickup truck and a loaded fuel tanker in Buri Ram’s Muang district early Wednesday morning.
Police were called to the crash on the Buri Ram-Nang Rong Road between kilometre markers 11 and 12 in tambon Ban Bua around 5.30 am.
The caller reported multiple casualties and burning vehicles at the scene.
They found a fuel tanker operated by AB Petroleum Co on fire off the side of the road. About 10 firetrucks and crews took around an hour to bring the blaze under control. The driver, Adul Srinaowarat, 45, escaped uninjured.
About 20 metres away was a wrecked black Toyota Vigo. A man, aged around 36, was dead on the road. Trapped in the vehicle were eight people, including two children who suffered bad burns. They were all rushed to Buri Ram Hospital, where a second person, a woman, was pronounced dead.
Slightly injured, Pitak Klangthong, a 20-year-old pickup truck passenger, said his uncle was driving relatives from Amnat Charoen to stay at the coastal province of Rayong during the school break.
Mr Pitak said he saw the fuel tanker driver lose control after swerving to avoid hitting a man. The tanker then collided head-on with the pickup.