Twelve vehicle crash injures 26 people in northeast Thailand

On the sixth day of Thailand‘s “Seven Dangerous Days,” a crash involving 12 vehicles on the Friendship Highway in Nakhon Ratchasima province in Isaan left 26 people injured.

At 1am, officers from Nong Sarai Police Station received a report of a multiple-vehicle accident outside a dog shelter on the inbound Mittraphap Road, known as the Friendship Highway, in Pak Chong district.

Police and rescue workers from the Sawang Wicha Dhammasathan Pak Chong Unit rushed to the scene with special equipment.

At the scene, damaged sedans, pickup trucks, and a tour bus were strewn across the lanes. Police temporarily closed off traffic.

Police found a 31 year old named Anon, who was driving a pickup truck carrying chilli peppers, jammed inside his vehicle.

In total, eight injured people, one seriously, were transferred to hospital. A further 18 people sustained minor injuries but did not wish to receive treatment, said police.

The Friendship Highway, which connects Bangkok to Isaan, is jampacked with people travelling back to the big city after visiting their families for the new year holiday.

Fearing that more vehicles would crash into the pileup, police took photos and snapped pictures of the scene for evidence before hurrying to remove the damaged vehicles from the road. It took around 30 minutes until traffic was passing through the spot as normal.

Anon told police that he was transporting dried chillies from Ubon Rathathani to the south of Thailand. He said he saw a rubber cone in the road guiding him into the leftmost lane and assumed there had been an accident.

When Anon tried to brake to move lanes, he found that his brakes weren’t working, causing him to crash straight into the car in front and several more vehicles, he told police.

Finally, Anon’s pickup crashed into a tour bus carrying 12 people. He said he has insurance.

Deputy Inspector of Nong Sarai Police Station Pol Col Boonlai Chaithip said that Anon would be charged with dangerous driving and damage to property resulting in the injury of other people.

Road accidents increase every year during the new year holiday in what has been deemed the “Seven Dangerous Days.”

In the four-day new year holiday from December 29 – January 1, 218 people were killed and 1,647 were injured in road accidents in Thailand, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM).