Two detectives killed in rear-end collision with cement truck
Two detectives from the Metropolitan Police Bureau Division 1 tragically lost their lives when their vehicle was rear-ended by a cement truck while tracking a drug suspect.
The incident occurred late at night on February 1 at a petrol station on the Western Ring Road in Sam Khok district, Pathum Thani province. The two officers, 54 year old Lieutenant Manee Khumkan and 30 year old Police Sergeant Kongkiat Muangkaew, were killed, while two others sustained injuries.
The injured officers, Police Lance Corporal Chalermchon Yaoram, who suffered a broken leg, and Police Lance Corporal Ekachai Thongkhan, who was driving, were both transported to Pathum Thani Hospital. The accident happened as the officers were conducting an operation to apprehend a drug trafficker suspected of collecting drugs in Saraburi province.
At around 11am on February 2, Police Colonel Wichai Sonsakul, head of the investigative unit, explained that approximately 10 officers were involved in the operation, using three vehicles.
The four officers in the vehicle that was hit, including the deceased officers, were part of a task force tracking the suspect from the Taling Chan district in Bangkok to Bang Kruai district, Nonthaburi province, on their way to Saraburi.
The police had parked their vehicles near the petrol station when suddenly, an 18-wheeler cement truck, reportedly due to the driver falling asleep at the wheel, lost control and crashed into the parked police car. Following the accident, the investigation was paused as officers attended to the casualties.
Pol. Col. Wichai mentioned that arrangements are being made to support the families of the deceased officers. Documentation of the operation has been recorded, and the department is ensuring that all rights and benefits are fully administered to the families, reported KhaoSod.
The deceased officers’ bodies are currently at the forensic branch, and coordination with the relatives is underway to facilitate the collection of death certificates and the retrieval of the bodies on February 3. The bodies will be taken to Wat Tri Thotsathep in Phra Nakhon district, Bangkok, for funeral rites.
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