Two Indian tourists were killed and five other people sustained severe injuries when a van they were travelling in rammed into the back of a truck in Chumphon on Saturday.

The crash happened at around 1am.

Police, medics and rescue workers rushed to the scene and found a 10-wheel truck parked at a U-turn. The collision caused slight damage to the vehicle's left side.

About 150 metres away from the incident, a badly-damaged Toyota van had overturned in a roadside ditch. Four Indian passengers and a 50-year-old Thai man sustained serious injuries. The Thai man was the van driver. 

Two other male passengers were found dead and trapped in the wreckage. Rescue workers had to use a cutting tool to extract their bodies. The dead passengers were Indian tourists, aged 25 and 28.

An investigation showed that the van was carrying 10 foreign passengers from Hat Yai to Bangkok. The truck moved to the right lane to make a U-turn, resulting in the van rear-ending it. The impact caused the van driver to lose control, and the vehicle overturned and plunged into the roadside ditch.