French, Polish among injured in Phuket visa run crash

PHUKET: A French woman and a Polish man have been identified as the two foreigners injured in the visa run van accident in Trang province on Monday (story here).

“Caterina Murcia, 30, from France, was treated for a broken arm,” a nurse at the Surgery Unit of Trang Hospital told the Phuket Gazette yesterday.

“She was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday,” the nurse added.

Friedrich Menning, 37, from Poland, was not so lucky.

“He suffered a broken leg and broken ribs… He was told to stay at the hospital so we could monitor his condition, but he requested to be moved to Phuket International Hospital,” the nurse explained.

Mr Menning was admitted to Phuket International Hospital on Tuesday morning.

Staff at the hospital confirmed to the Gazette yesterday that Mr Menning remains there, but declined to comment further.

Capt Opas Jaiboon of Trang’s Si Kao District Police yesterday confirmed to the Gazette that the sole fatality in the van crash was Philippine national Renita Polido.

Ms Polido worked in Phuket as a singer at a hotel restaurant (story here).

She was in the van heading for Penang, Malaysia, to obtain a visa so she could continue working in Phuket.

— Orawin Narabal