25 killed in road accident in Thailand

Team Udayavani, Jan 3, 2017, 10:17 AM IST

Bangkok (Thailand): At least 25 people, including a three-year-old boy, were killed today in a horrific accident when two vehicles collided and caught fire on a highway in eastern Thailand, police said.

A pickup truck heading to Klaeng district in Rayong with 12 passengers in the cab and the open cargo area crashed with a van coming from the opposite direction, resulting in a fire on the two vehicles in the eastern province of Chonburi, The Bangkok Post reported.

The van was carrying 15 passengers from Chanthaburi to Bangkok when the accident took place this afternoon.

Police said 11 people in the truck and 14 people in the van, including the three-year-old boy, died.

They said the van driver might have lost control of the vehicle, which crossed a dividing road ditch to the other side and hit the truck.

The blast might have been caused by the compressed natural gas cylinder in the van, they added.

The clash claimed the most lives during the New Year holidays, which killed 280 people since the government started the road safety campaign on Thursday, the report said.

According to the World Health Organization, Thailand has the world’s second most dangerous roads in 2015 in terms of per capita deaths despite relatively good infrastructure.