A road traffic accident in Phang Nga has claimed the lives of 4 people who were heading to Phuket on holiday. The dead include the nephew of former Phuket governor, Narong Woonciew, who finished his term as Governor last month.
The accident happened on Phet Kasem Road in the district of Takua Thung on Friday, October 13. It’s understood the car carrying the 4 victims lost control at a bend in the road, before hurtling across the central reservation and ploughing into 2 large trucks.
Police and emergency workers arrived at the scene to find one damaged truck in the northbound lane. The driver, named as 50 year old Sayan Matthawathi from the central province of Samut Prakan, was uninjured and waiting for police at the scene.
Another 60 metres further along, rescue workers found a trailer truck with the destroyed car embedded in the front of the trailer. The trailer driver, Pongsa Chaithom from Phuket, was uninjured and also waiting for police.
The 4 occupants of the car were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver has been named as 29 year old Poompat Woonciew, from the southern province of Songkhla. His uncle is the former governor of Phuket, Narong Woonciew.
The other passengers have been named as 29 year old Ms. Piyaphon Matsakun, from Nakhon Si Thammarat, 27 year old Ms. Jureephon Saranan, from Phatthalung, and Ms Jinnapat Suthat Na Ayutthaya, age unknown, from Songkhla.
Emergency workers had to use a hydraulic cutter to remove the victims’ bodies from the wreckage. Family members who were notified by police say the 4 were travelling to Phuket for a holiday.
According to eye-witness reports, the car driver appeared to lose control while navigating a bend in the road and went careening across the central reservation. The car struck a moving truck, then a moving trailer truck, after which it was dragged around 50 metres before the trailer truck could come to a stop.
There are sharp bends and curves along much of the road between Phang Nga and Phuket, with signs placed along the 26-kilometre stretch warning drivers to slow down. Both truck drivers have had blood alcohol tests, with police saying neither driver was found to be over the limit. A blood alcohol test is also being carried out on the body of the car driver.
SOURCE: The Phuket Express
