Pickup truck hits tree – Nine students died after their vehicle crashed into a tree in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district on Tuesday evening and two other victims are battling for their lives in a hospital.
The road mishap occurred at around 5pm on Tuesday when 11 students were heading home after the regular school classes. The truck went off the track and ran into a tree at Sapom village in tambon Paiwan. The man maneuvering the vehicle used to drive home the students from Narasikkhalai and Bang Narawithaya schools.
The impact of collision reported to be very strong that threw the students from the vehicle. Due to the violent strike, three people died on the spot, two students and the driver. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital by the local residents.
Later in the night, seven of the nine admitted at the medical facility succumbed to their injuries. Two fatally injured girl students were reported still alive in the hospital. The driver Kowit Jaihao, and seven girls and two boys were declared dead by the hospital authorities.
The students’ parents had hired the driver to provide a shuttle service to and from the two schools during weekdays. The investigating officials believe that the driver might had fallen asleep while driving, causing the truck to leave the road and hit the roadside tree.
On Wednesday, chief of Tak Bai police Col Jeeradet Prasawang said that forensic experts were examining the pickup truck to see whether it had developed a mechanical problem that could have led to the accident. Napassorn Ninnoi and Janya Ramkaew of Bang Narawithaya School are the two injured girls clinging on to life. Both of them are in critical condition and under intensive medical care. IMAGE/bangkokpost
