A woman passenger was killed and 15 others injured when a van taking them from Nakhon Phanom to Bangkok hit a roadside tree in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district of Ayutthaya province early on Wednesday.
The accident occurred on Ayutthaya-bound Rojana Road as the vehicle approached an intersection near a PTT petrol station in tambon Pratuchai, according to Pol Maj Senee Phachob, investigation chief at Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police station. It was reported to police about 5am.
Police and emergency services rushed to the scene. They found a passenger van with Bangkok licence plates had crashed into a tree. The front and part of the roof had caved in under the impact, and bags were scattered over the road.
All the passengers were injured and trapped inside the van. Rescuers cut open the crumpled vehicle to extract them. A woman sitting in the front passenger seat was dead, and 15 others sustained injuries. All were taken to Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital.
Police said the van veered off the road and onto a footpath, hitting a traffic sign post and then a roadside tree. Its left rear tyre was found to have burst. The force of the crash also threw bags and sacks of rice from the van.
Police did not say what happened to the driver.
According to posts on the social media Khaoayutthaya page, the driver had survived the crash and fled the scene.
Nearby residents told police they had been jolted awake by a loud sound. They went outside and saw a van had hit a tree.
One injured passenger told police she and 15 others hired the van in Nakhon Phanom to return to work in Bangkok after the New Year holiday. They left the northeastern province about 5pm on Tuesday, The woman said she sat in the back seat.
All the passengers were sleeping. She was awoken by a loud noise, and then the van hit the tree.
Police were investigating.
Rescue workers remove injured passengers and send them to hospital following the van crash in Ayutthaya. (Photo: Sunthorn Pongpao)