SURAT THANI: One Myanmar national was killed and six others hurt when a Toyota Fortuner bound for the Malaysian border rear-ended a trailer truck in Tha Chana district in the early hours of Thursday.
The fatal crash occurred at kilometre marker 120 on southbound Highway 4, said a police officer at the Tha Chana police radio centre who was notified around 1.40am.
Police and rescue workers arriving on the scene found a badly damaged white Fortuner SUV with Bangkok licence plates. Its front had struck the back of a 22-wheel trailer truck.
One person was killed and six others injured and trapped inside the Fortuner. Rescue workers retrieved them from the wreckage. The driver fled the scene.
According to a police investigation, the vehicle was en route from Ranong province to the southern border, where the migrants were to be taken into Malaysia for jobs, when it rear-ended the trailer truck loaded with goods.
Police believe the driver, believed to be a Thai national, might have fallen asleep at the wheel.
The six surviving Myanmar nationals were handed over to immigration police to be deported back to their country.