PHETCHABUN: A lucky pickup driver escaped with only minor injuries when his vehicle plunged about 60 metres into a ravine beside a highway in Lom Sak district on Tuesday morning.
Police said the accident occurred near the kilometre 374 marker on Highway 12, just before the entrance to Huay Tong bridge, in tambon Pak Chong.
A motorist who witnessed it called 191 and police from nearby Ban Klang and rescuers rushed to the scene.
The pickup, a Bangkok-registered white Toyota Hilux, ran off the highway and plunged down the side of the ravine through a dense stand of krathin trees.
The trees cushioned the fall and the pickup eventually came to rest at the bottom of the gully, about 60 metres below the road.
The vehicle suffered major damaged but the driver, who was travelling alone from Prachin Buri, escaped with only minor injuries. He was lifted up to the road by rescuers and then rushed to Lom Sak Hospital. His name was not released.
Police said there had been many accidents at that spot on Highway 12, and many deaths.