Belgian hit-and-run victim urges driver to come forward

An elderly Belgian woman has been injured in a hit and run in Chiang Mai and now recovering in the Chiang Mai Hospital.

The 78 year old is urging the motorist who injured her to come forward and apologise.

Chiang Mai police deputy chief Pol Colonel Piyaphan Pattharapongsin on Tuesday said police were still trying to locate the driver of black car that hit and injured Gabriel Maria Elle (not official spelling) at 6 pm on December 9.

The woman was hit in front of a 7-Eleven shop on Hang Dong-Samerng Road in Hand Dong district’s Tambon Nong Kwai.

She suffered a broken right leg and bruising to her right cheek and many other parts of the body. The car fled the scene after the accident.

She said she had been crossing the road, after checking there were no vehicles coming, when a car came out from nowhere and hit her, sending her tumbling to the ground.

She said the driver did not come out to check whether she was alright, and merely sped off.

Speaking form her bed in Chiang Mai Hospital, the Belgian said she hoped the driver would come to visit her and show a humanitarian gesture by doing so.

Thassanalai Thiansanti, an insurance representative who is taking care of the woman’s case, urged witnesses who may have seen the incident and might remember the driver’s licence plate to come forward and inform police.

She said a CCTV camera outside the 7-Eleven store had been unable to record the licence plate of the car clearly.

STORY: The Nation