Two police officers were killed and seven others injured when their van slammed into the rear of a parked armoured vehicle at a military checkpoint in Pattani’s Khok Pho district on Tuesday night.
The accident occured on Ban Prang-Khok Pho road in tambon Tha Rua around 9.30pm on Tuesday, said police.
The van was carrying nine officers attached to Khok Pho police station to the station. When it reached the area, the vehicle hit the rear of a Humvee armoured vehicle parked on the roadside at a military checkpoint and skidded off the road.
The impact of the crash killed two police officers instantly and injured seven others, two of them seriously.
The dead officers were identified as Pol Lt Prasit Kroynok, 59, a deputy crime suppression investigator and Pol Snr Sgt Maj Somdet Pakdokmai, 52.
Among the injured, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wasant Chanchai and Pol Snr Sgt Wut Khaosang were badly hurt. The five others were Pol Lt Col Siriwat Panyachonnawat, deputy superintendent; Pol Lt Col Yupin Prombut, a female police investigator; Pol Snr Sgt Maj Ma-aree Samad; Pol Sgt Archart Sompalad and Pol Sgt Pichitchai Sopakul.
Police said the officers were returning from a funeral rite of their fellow officer’s father in Trang when the crash took place in the dark location.
The investigation was underway.
Commanders of the injured officers and senior military officers on Wednesday visited the officers being treated at two hospitals in Pattani.
Parts of the police van are scattered behind a parked armoured vehicle after a fatal crash in Pattani's Khok Pho district on Friday night in which two police officers died and seven others injured. (Photo by Abdulloh Benjakat)