PHUKET: Two people died when a pickup truck driver lost control of his vehicle on Phuket’s main highway in Rassada earlier today (May 19). The vehicle collided with a roadside pole, resulting in the deaths of the driver and a cable technician who was climbing a ladder at the time of the accident.
Lt Col Romthiya Suwannaphan of the Phuket City Police was informed of the accident on Thepkrassatri Rd in Rassada around 12.30pm today (May 19).
Police officers and rescue workers arrived at the scene, in front of the Mitsubishi Motors dealership on the southbound side of the highway, to find a wrecked Toyota Hilux Vigo pickup truck that had crashed into a power pole.
Trapped inside the vehicle was the injured driver, Mr. Ball (full name and age not provided). Nearby, the body of the Phuket cable technician, identified by his ID card as Sornrak Phengphong, 24, was found.
Mr Sornrak died at the scene, while Mr. Ball succumbed to his injuries later. The pickup truck was so badly damaged that it took rescue workers nearly an hour and a half to cut open the cabin and extract the man.
According to witnesses, Mr Ball was test-driving the Toyota Hilux Vigo, which had been brought to a local repair shop by a customer. For reasons yet to be investigated, he lost control of the vehicle at high speed, causing the pickup to collide with a road sign and then slam into the pole, instantly killing Mr. Sornrak, who was climbing a ladder to perform work on the internet cables.
A video footage of the accident captured by a Rassada Municipality’s street CCTV camera, available to The Phuket News, shows and confirms only the final part of the accident.
