One killed, another injured after train slams into upside-down van in Ayutthaya

PHOTO: Matichon Online

One man is dead and another severely injured after their van hit a road barrier and flipped onto railway tracks before being hit by a train in Ayutthaya, just north of Bangkok, early today.

The Ayutthaya police station was alerted of the accident at the u-turn under the Ban Ma flyover on the Asia highway’s frontage in Tambon Ban Ma at 4.30am this morning. The Toyota Alphard van apparently hit the barrier at the u-turn at a high speed, hurling both the driver and passenger outside the van before flipping onto the railway.

28 year old Anan Sriboon, a Muang district resident, fell onto the tracks and was crushed to death by the van before it was hit by the train. The train badly mutilated his body, said police. 40 year old Warasan Jarawichit was hurled into the grass beside the tracks. He was rushed to hospital.

It was not yet certain who was driving the van, according to police.

Police found that the barrier at the u-turn was hit and a power pole toppled by the van’s impact. The driver of the Nong Khai-Bangkok train says he spotted the van as the train approached the Ayutthaya station, but he was unable to stop in time.

A 42 year old motorcyclist Sumet Sinthusaeng says he was riding his bike on the flyover above the railway and he saw the van hit the barrier and flip. He rushed down to help just as the train hit the van, and found a man lying beside the railway. He told police he later spotted a body on the tracks.

SOURCE: The Nation