Two American teens die in road smash

KARON: Two American teenagers on a motorcycle were killed in a traffic accident on the road to Patong yesterday evening. Pol Capt Chana Sutthimas of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that at around 7.30 pm, John James Haney and William Richard Knox, both 18, were in a collision with a van belonging to Phuket Simon Cabaret. The two boys were riding together on Patak Rd, heading toward Karon. “The accident happened at the second curve after you pass the Felix Karon Phuket Hotel and reach the very steep hill. The two were heading toward Karon while the van was traveling in the opposite direction,” Capt Chana told the Gazette. When police arrived at the scene, they found the motorbike under the van. The driver of the van had fled the scene. Police have yet to release the van driver’s name, or information regarding the cause of the accident. A spokesperson at Wachira Phuket Hospital said that the boys’ fathers had already been to the hospital to identify the bodies.