SURAT THANI: Four people were killed after a pickup truck driven by a Bangkok lawyer broke down as it crossed railway tracks and was hit by a train in Wiang Sa district on Thursday.
The tragedy happened at an illegal railway crossing in Ban Nong Chumsaeng in tambon Ban Song at about 11.20am.
Police and rescue workers at the scene found a wrecked silver Isuzu pickup truck resting upside down about 50 metres from the crossing.
Two people were killed instantly. They were driver Somsak Poon-udom, the 49-year-old lawyer from Wang Thong Lang district of Bangkok, and Kimsuang Kansuwan, 75.
Two other people were seriously injured and trapped in the truck's cabin. They were Roongrit Kansuwan, the truck owner and a native of Chumphon province, and Panisa Poon-udom, Somsak's 10-year-old daughter. They were sent to Weingsra Crown Prince Hospital but succumbed to their wounds.
The four were heading for Trang province when their vehicle was hit by train number 445 (Chumphon-Hat Yai). The locomotive was damaged but remained operational.
There was a warning light but no barrier at the railway crossing. Local vendor Yothin Thamsaeng, 35, said the pickup truck approached the crossing slowly. The train sounded its warning horn, he said, but the truck stopped just when it was most of the way over the rails. The train then slammed into the rear of the truck, knocking it away from the tracks, Mr Yothin said.