Crashes claim 9 lives, 36 injured

Crashes claim 9 lives, 36 injured

The badly damaged Bangkok-bound bus from Tak lies in a ditch after running off the highway in Nakhon Sawan around midnight. Two passengers were killed and 32 others injured. (Photo by Chalit Phumruang)
The badly damaged Bangkok-bound bus from Tak lies in a ditch after running off the highway in Nakhon Sawan around midnight. Two passengers were killed and 32 others injured. (Photo by Chalit Phumruang)

Nine people were killed and another 36 injured in two road accidents overnight, one involving an interprovincial passenger bus in Nakhon Sawan and the other a pickup truck carrying people home from a festival in Sa Kaeo.

In Nakhon Sawan, two women died and 32 other passengers were injured when a Bangkok-bound bus from Tak plunged into a ditch in Muang district,

The accident, on Highway 1 (Nakhon Sawan- Kamphaeng Phet) in tambon Nong Krot, was reported to Yoi Nong Ben police just after midnight on Friday.

Emergency units sent to the scene found the overturned Bangkok registered bus, owned by Cherdchai Tour, lying on its side in the median strip ditch near Kaset Chai Farm in Ban Thanon Khong.  

Two women found dead at the scene were identified as Phimolpha Kawinwalai, 24, and NiNi Aung, a 32-year-old Myanmar national.

Thirty-two others, including the driver, Suriyan Sumlai, 36, were taken to Sawanpracharak Hospital. Five were admitted and the remainder treated for minor injuries and discharged.

Police said the bus was travelling from Mae Sot district in Tak to Bangkok. Mr Suriyan told them a motorcycle cut in front of the bus and he lost control avoiding it. 

Police were not convinced by his explanation and said they would investigate further.

In Sa Kaeo, seven people were killed and four injured when their pickup truck overturned on the way home from the Wan Lai festival, a local event to celebrate Songkran.

JS100 traffic radio’s website reported that local rescue workers were alerted to the accident on Highway 317 (Chanthaburi-Sa Kaeo) in Wang Nam Yen district around 9.25pm on Thursday.

Upon arrival, they found a pickup with Sa Kaeo licence plates overturned in a roadside ditch in front of an Isuzu car showroom. 

The injured passengers and bodies of the deceased were scattered around the vehicle. Their names were not released. 

Three of the 11 passengers died at the scene. The eight others were rushed to Sa Kaeo Crown Prince Hospital, where four of them were later pronounced dead.

Injured passengers told police the vehicle had suddenly veered off the road and plunged into the ditch.

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