KANCHANABURI: A restauranteur and his girlfriend were killed when their pickup truck smashed into a roadside power pole so violently that its engine was ejected and the vehicle wrapped around the pole.
The accident happened on Highway 324 (Kanchanaburi-Uthong) in Ban Huai Talung village of tambon Nong Khao in Tha Muang district at 12.23am on Sunday.
At the scene police found the heavily damaged silver Isuzu D-Max partially folded against a high-power pole. Its engine was sent through the bonnet and fell about 20 metres away from the vehicle that was registered in this western province.
Near the pole there were signs of braking for about 80 metres before the wreck, in which the two died instantly killed.
The victims were identified as Sitthipong Boonkerd, 28-year-old owner of Krua Ban Ban eatery in tambon Nong Khao, and his girlfriend Arisa Nakpinpat, 26. Both were natives of Tha Muang district.
An eyewitness who identified himself only as Krishnai told police that the pickup truck overtook his motorcycle fast and smashed into the pole at a slight bend on the highway.
Police assumed that the driver applied the brakes on the bend at high speed and lost control of the pickup.