Black day on Phuket&’s roads

PHUKET: Four people were killed in three separate road accidents in the south of the island yesterday. The first accident, in Kata at 1:30 pm, involved a motorbike and a 10-wheel truck on the narrow beach road in front of Club Med Resort, said Pol Capt Anek Mongkol of the Chalong Police Station. Police arrived on the scene to find the body of Swedish tourist Per Torbjorn Gren, 35, lying face down on the road near the truck, dead from head injuries after landing on the road. The truck driver and witnesses told police that the truck stopped on the road to make a right turn into a small soi leading into the resort. The victim, unable to stop in time, smashed into the back of the truck. Just 15 minutes later, police received a report that a woman driving a motorbike toward Chalong had veered off Patak Rd on Kata Hill and into a ditch. Police found the woman’s body in the ditch 10 meters from the bike. Her neck was broken and it appeared that she had died instantly. Capt Anek said that the woman has not yet been identified. “We are still looking for her relatives because she didn’t have any documents with her. Anyone who has information on this woman should contact the Chalong Police Station,” he added. The third accident, in front of Soi Phuket Country Home on Chao Fa East Rd, claimed the lives of two after a pick-up truck hit a motorcycle-sidecar from behind. One victim, a Burmese national known only as “Mao”, died at the scene from a broken neck. The other, Epek Pramongkij, a Sea Gypsy woman, also suffered a broken neck and died in Wachira Hospital two hours later. Both victims had been riding in the sidecar, which separated from the bike in the smash. There were three people, including two children, on the motorbike, and six in the sidecar. None of the others suffered serious injuries. Police are now searching for the driver of the pick-up, who, in accordance with normal practice here, fled the scene after the crash.