(12 March) No passenger was hurt in the accident involving a public van in Chonburi province last night as the van was not in service at the time, police said.
Rescue workers and the police arrived at the scene of the accident on Sukhumvit Road in Sattahip district shortly after midnight on Wednesday to find a flipped-over and badly-damaged black Honda car. Inside the car the rescue team found an unconscious woman, and proceeded to extract her from the wreckage. The woman was later sent to hospital.
30 metres away, the rescue workers encountered wreckages of a pick-up truck and a public mini-van, which was flipped onto itself. The van reportedly operates on the Bangkok-Rayong route.
Lieutenant Commander Manop Thiankhao, a Royal Thai Navy officer who was driving the pick-up truck, said he saw two public mini-vans approaching a U-Turn on the road prior to the accident. According to Lt.Cdr. Manop, one of the vans attempted to race past the other, but instead encountered the Honda waiting to take the U-Turn, causing the van to slam into the waiting car.
The mini-van also sped past the Honda and crashed into his pick-up truck, Lt.Cdr. Manop said, before the van finally flipped on its side on the road and the driver promptly fled into a nearby wooded area.
A police officer at Phlu Ta Luang Police Station said the authorities are working to identify and locate the van driver for further prosecution.
Fortunately, no passenger was onboard in the van at the time of the incident, the officer added.
