PHICHIT: Five people were killed and two others badly injured when a pickup truck was hit by a north-bound train on a railway crossing in Muang district on Monday evening.
The crash occurred around 6.15pm at Moo 1 village in tambon Pak Thang of Muang district.
Police said passenger train 201 from Bangkok to Phitsanulok approached the crossing, which had no safety barriers, about 6pm.
A four-door pickup truck with Phitchit plates drove across the tracks and into the path of the train. The train driver was unable to stop or slow in time to avoid hitting the vehicle.
The force of the crash drove the pickup about 30 metres beyond the railway crossing and off to the side. All passengers on the pickup were thrown from the vehicle. Three women died on the spot and two more people died later at Phichit Hospital. Two others were seriously injured.
Police investigators said truck driver Pratya Khongthat, 40, was taking relatives, women and a girl, to a funeral at Wat Ratchangkhwan in tambon Pak Thang, about one kilometre from the crash scene.
Those killed were four women and a 14-year-old girl. The driver survived.
The police investigation was continuing
The wrecked pickup truck, tossed 30-metres down the track when hit by a train at a crossing in Phichit on Monday. (Photo: Sitthipoj Kebui)