Four people were killed and at least 31 others injured when a box pickup truck carrying undocumented migrants lost control and overturned in Sai Yok district on Saturday morning. The driver fled the scene.
Local police received a report from the Narenthorn radio centre at about 9am of an accident involving a Nissan pickup with a box container and Bangkok licence plates.
The vehicle was travelling at high speed from Thong Pha Phum district towards downtown Kanchanaburi when it lost control on a curve near kilometre marker 108 on Highway 323, in village Moo 9 of tambon Lum Sum, said police
The truck’s left rear wheel detached, causing the vehicle to veer across lanes and overturn violently into a roadside forested area.
The force of the crash ripped off the canopy and scattered belongings across the area. CCTV footage from a nearby house captured the moment of the crash and was being examined by police as evidence.
Three people were found dead at the scene and 32 others injured – 22 men and 10 women – all of them migrant workers. Teams from the Kanchanaburi Rescue Foundation and Pitak Karn Foundation responded swiftly, transporting the injured to Sai Yok Hospital. (Story continues below)
Of the injured, six people suffered severe head trauma and breathing difficulties and were later transferred to Phaholpolpayuhasena Hospital in Kanchanaburi for further treatment.
One male victim died en route, raising the death toll to four. Officials fear the number of fatalities may rise as several victims remained in critical condition.
Witnesses told police that many of the surviving migrants fled into a forested area near the crash site. This prompted police, soldiers from the Lat Ya task force and local officials to launch a manhunt. Ten migrants were later caught, some with injuries, and were taken to Sai Yok Hospital for treatment.
Pol Col Natthawut Kantayot, chief of the Sai Yok police, said the driver of the pickup took advantage of the chaos to flee.
‘We are now working to identify and arrest the driver. It is not yet clear whether he is Thai or a foreign national,’ said Pol Col Natthawut.