Four crushed to death in truck accident

CHALONG: Four construction workers from Phuket were crushed to death and two others were seriously hurt when a 10-wheel truck crashed on Patak Rd in Karon on Saturday. Pol Capt Sanae Panmee of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the truck was carrying a 3½-ton excavator as well as 10 construction workers, four in the cab with the driver and the other six riding behind with the excavator. The accident took place as the truck was descending the steep hill into Karon on the road from Chalong circle. The driver, Liang Muangsakul, 66, from Bangkok, told police that this was the first time he had driven in Phuket. The weight of the machinery in the back of the truck, he explained, made it difficult for him to brake. This, combined with the tight bends on that stretch of road, resulted in his loss of control. The truck ran off the road and fell onto its side. The workers, thrown overboard, were crushed by the falling excavator.