At 2:20 a.m. (local time) on Friday, a freight train collided with a pickup truck trying to cross a railway track in central Thailand. In this accident, eight people were killed, announced the national railway company.
The collision occurred in Chachoengsao province, east of Bangkok, on a level crossing normally closed to vehicles, the company said in a statement.
The driver did not have sufficient distance to brake
At the approach of this van which was transporting fish, the train driver activated his horn but was unable to avoid the collision, according to the same source. It “followed protocol by sounding the alarm three times but, due to the proximity, it was difficult for the driver to stop the train in time,” the company said.
Five men and three women died while four other people were injured, one of whom was hospitalized in critical condition. A 20-year-old man who jumped out of the pick-up just before the crash said he thought they might pass but then saw the train just meters from the vehicle.
High death rate on Thai roads
Fatal road accidents are common in Thailand, which regularly tops the world rankings in this area, with speeding, drink-driving and poor law enforcement all contributing factors.
In October 2020, 18 people were killed when a freight train hit a bus taking its passengers to a religious ceremony.