CHAIYAPHUM: A fuel tanker overturned in Thep Sathit district in the early hours of Saturday, running over the driver and killing him as he tried to jump free.
The trailer truck, carrying 36,000 litres of diesel, veered off Road No 205 in tambon Huay Ya Jiew and overturned as driver Rachen Maeme lost control while going down a hill at around 3.30am on Saturday, said Pol Capt Thavorn Sroiroad, deputy investigation chief at the Thep Sathit police station.
Mr Rachen, 37, tried to jump from the tanker, but he was run over by the rear of the tanker and killed instantly.
Rescue workers took almost four hours to retrieve his body from the rear of the vehicle. Fire trucks were sent to spray cooling water onto the tanker to prevent it from exploding.
Pol Capt Thavorn said the driver was travelling alone to deliver fuel to a petrol station in Thep Sathit when he lost control of the vehicle.
A fuel tanker lies upside-down after the driver lost control, causing it to plunge off the road in Thep Sathit district in Chaiyaphum early Saturday. (Photo by Makkawan Wannakul)