KANCHANABURI: A five-months pregnant woman was seriously injured and her younger brother killed when a roadside tree fell onto a moving pick-up truck in Sangkhla Buri district on Saturday afternoon, police said.
Pol Lt Col Piyachai Mankhong, a Sangkhla Buri police investigator, said the incident occurred at about 3.30pm while the woman, Kanokkorn Sangkhachi, 24, was driving a Nissan Navara pick-up along Highway 323, heading for Thong Pha Phum district. She was accompanied by her 12-year-old younger brother, Tao, a student at Kroeng Krawia School, .
At kilometre marker 234, a tree suddenly crashed down onto the pick-up, causing the vehicle to veer off the highway.
The falling tree crushed the roof of the pickup.
Ms Kanokkorn, who is 5-months pregnant, was seriously injured while her younger brother, Tao, was killed.
Tewin Meesap, chief of the Khao Laem National Park, said the lower part of the tree had been burned in a fire along the roadside between kilometres 232-238 on Saturday.
The falling tree also brought down power posts and transmission cables, causing a blackout throughout Sangkhla Buri district.