SUPHAN BURI - A woman was killed and 14 other Myanmar workers and a baby injured when a passenger van taking them from Phuket to the Tak border crashed into a roadside tree and overturned in Muang district of this central province on Friday morning.
The accident occurred on the Liang Muang-Wang Yang route in tambon Ban Pho, said Pol Lt Somchet Nutchanart, a duty officer at Muang police station. It was reported to police around 8am.
The van was carrying 15 Myanmar migrant workers and a one-year-old child. They were heading back to Myanmar, travelling from Phuket to Tak’s Mae Sot district.
The van ran off the road and slammed into a tree. The impact killed a woman aged around 42, and injured 15 others. Of the injured, eight, including the child, were badly hurt. They were rushed to a nearby hospital, Thai media reported on Friday.
Police said the migrants were working legally in Phuket. They hired the van and driver, Somkhid Riangchorhor, 58, for the trip back to the border at Mae Sot, intending to cross into Myanmar.
The officers believed the van was travelling at speed and the driver, who survived the crash, fell asleep at the wheel. Mr Somkhid and other survivors would be interviewed to determine the cause of the crash.