Lorry crashes due to tyre blowout on highway killing one and leaving three injured
A lorry crashed in a horror tyre blowout that killed the driver and injured three people on a Thai highway.
The 10-wheeler was carrying sacks of betel nuts when its right wheel exploded along Highway 323 in Kanchanaburi.
The truck hit three other drivers as it spun out of control, spilling sacks across the pavement before overturning on August 24.
Police arrived at the scene at around 8 am local time , where they found the metal carnage on the roadside.
Truck driver Wanchai Pinkaew was discovered dead in the crumpled cabin of his 10-wheeler.
A Mitsubishi Triton and a Toyota Vigo pick-up truck were found wrecked. Pickup driver Arkhom Kerdrungruang was seriously hurt, while fellow driver Naphat suffered minor injuries.
Motorcycle rider Kai Phrancharoen was suffered abrasions and a broken arm while his bike was recovered nearby.
Rescuers took the injured to the Somdet Phrapiya Maharat Rommanikhet Hospital as police and volunteers cleared the wreckage and scattered betel nuts from the road.
Officers said they were investigating the exact cause of the tyre blowout and the crash.
Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.
However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.
