LOP BURI: Six passengers, one a child, were killed and nine others hurt when a van driver went through a rail crossing barrier and into the path of a Bangkok-bound passenger train in Phatthana Nikhom district in the early hours of Friday.
The crash occurred at a railway crossing on the Lop Buri-Wang Muang road in tambon Nong Bua and was reported about 3am, Pol Col Krit Saengphon, superintendent of Phatthana Nikhon police station, said.
The wrecked van, with Ubon Ratchathani licence plates, came to rest up against a concrete barrier beside the crossing.
Rescuers found two men and two women dead inside the wreckage, and all 11 others on board, including the van driver, had injuries.
The injured were taken to two nearby hospitals, where two of them, a boy and a man, were later pronounced dead.
JS100 traffic radio reported the van had been driven around the barrier arm as the Nong Khai to Bangkok train approached. A bridge is being built over the track at the crossing and the area was dark at the time.
Pol Col Krit said the force of the impact threw the van off the crossing and into a concrete barrier on the roadside.
The van was taking 14 passengers to Ubon Ratchathani province.
The driver Wimol Wisetsat, was only slightly hurt, and would be interrogated, Pol Col Krit said.
After a short delay the train continued on to Bangkok.