Bangkok: Twelve mourners were killed when
their packed pickup truck collided with a passenger bus as
they travelled to the funeral of a relative in northeastern
Thailand, police said on Saturday.
Ten women and two men, many of whom were sitting in the
open-top rear of the truck, were killed instantly in the smash
in Buriram province. Four other people were injured.
Colonel Pongsak Suk-im, commander of the local Nangrong
district police, told a news agency that the early morning collision
happened when the truck pulled onto a main road in front of a
long-distance bus from Bangkok.
The accident came during the most dangerous week of the
year on Thailand's roads.
Annual fatalities from vehicle crashes during the New Year
period regularly run into the hundreds, due to a combination
of the large number of people on the roads and drunk driving.
Almost 100 people have already died and more than a
thousand have been injured in accidents in the past two days,
according to the interior ministry.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 31, 2011, 13:18