NAKHON RATCHASIMA - Six people were killed and 44 others hurt, 12 seriously, when a Bangkok-bound interprovincial bus ran through a road divider and crashed head-on into a 10-wheel truck in Sikhiu district in the early hours of Friday.
The accident occurred between kilometre makers 103-104 on the Mittraphap Highway in tambon Mittraphap around 1am, said Pol Lt Col Virat Thassaniyom, investigation officer at Sikhiu police station.
Police said the driver of the double-decker bus, carrying about 60 passengers from Roi Et’s Phanom Phrai district to Bangkok, apparently lost control. The bus crashed through the road divider and into the path of the oncoming fully loaded truck.
Five people on the bus were killed - the driver and four passengers - and the driver of the truck. Four-four passengers were hurt, 12 seriously. They were rushed to two nearby hospitals.
Police said it was raining heavily at the time. The driver might have fallen asleep at the wheel .
Five of the six people killed in the crash were later identified as: truck driver Thorntham Hongwiangchan, bus driver Pichet Klinklang; and bus passengers Prawit Saensri, Veerapol In-on and Suna Makhumlek. Another male passenger was still unidentified.
Police said 12 of the injured passengers were in serious condition and were admitted to Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, while 28 were treated and later released from Sikhiu Hospital. Another four remained at the hospital.
Pol Col Chalermsak Suksamran, chief of Sikhiu police, said the cause of the accident was still being investigated. More witnesses would be questioned.
The investigation was continuing.
Rescue workers try to retrieve the body of the truck driver from the wreckage of the vehicle following the fatal crash. (Photo taken from Huk 91 Jud Sikhiu rescue team)
The wreckage of the 10-wheel truck is towed from the crash scene in Sikhiu district of Nakhon Ratchasima. The truck driver was among six people killed in the crash with a Bangkok-bound interprovincial bus. (Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)