Thai bus driver and passenger lose lives in collision with truck
A coach driver and a passenger lost their lives after a bus collided with a six-wheel truck on a road in the central province of Pathum Thani yesterday.
Officers from Lat Lum Kaeo Police Station investigated the fatal accident on Road 346 in the Lat Lum Kaeo district of Pathum Thani at 8.20am, yesterday, April 6. The Por Teck Tung Rescue Foundation and a team from the Forensic Medicine Institute also attended the scene.
The vehicles involved in the accident were a red double-decker bus and a six-wheel truck. The bus reportedly veered off to the side of the road. The windscreen and several parts of the vehicle were broken.
The coach was carrying 25 passengers, a driver, and a bus attendant, and was en route to a monastery in the central province of Ayutthaya for a merit making trip. Most of the passengers were elderly. The bus crashed into the parked truck, which was situated in the right lane.
The bus driver, 39 year old Nukorn, was pronounced dead at the scene. A 62 year old disabled female passenger named Somsri, who sat behind the driver, was thrown from the vehicle due to the force of the impact. Rescuers rushed her to Lat Lum Kaeo Hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries en route.
The truck driver, 42 year old Rakchart, explained that he and his 16 year old son had been delivering two backhoes to the area. The machinery was to be used to carry out improvements to the traffic island. He stated that the truck was parked in the correct position in preparation for unloading the equipment.
Rakchart added that his son was assigned to signal approaching vehicles to warn them of the parked truck. At the time of the collision, the pair completed their task and were preparing to get back into the truck when the coach bus crashed into the rear of their vehicle.
Police have not yet confirmed whether any legal action will be taken. It also remains unclear why the bus driver failed to notice the parked truck.
A similar fatal bus accident occurred in February in the central province of Prachin Buri, where a bus struck a traffic barrier and overturned, resulting in 17 deaths and numerous injuries.
The driver claimed he was unfamiliar with the route, having lost control of the vehicle.
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