A minivan carrying ten Russian tourists from Pattaya to Chanthaburi province for visa extensions crashed into a tree, resulting in one tourist sustaining a broken leg.
The driver said he was spooked by a screaming tourist who mistook him for napping while driving.
Police officers in Rayong province took the van driver, Mr. Mongkol Srichand, 40, to the police station for questioning after a car accident. The crash took place at 2 PM on Sunday, March 5th, on Sukhumvit Road in the Kong Din sub-district, Klaeng district, Rayong province.
The bronze minivan transporting ten Russian tourists (eight men and two women) from Pattaya to Chanthaburi province for visa extensions rammed into a roadside tree, police said.
The foreign passengers were trapped inside the car shortly before they were rescued by local emergency responders. One tourist, who could not be identified, suffered a broken leg, while six others sustained minor injuries. None were life-threatening injuries.
All victims were rushed to a local hospital for medical attention. However, Rayong Police, after questioning the unharmed driver, Mongkol, reported that the driver claimed he was startled by a passenger’s “scream” and lost control of his car.
The Thai man said a tourist had mistaken him for taking a nap while driving and let out a loud shriek, causing him to crash, when he was, in fact, according to him, just stooping down to pick up an inhaler that he had dropped.
Mongkol said he did not fall asleep at the wheel and blamed the scream for the cause of the accident.
Rayong Police are reaching out to the families of the victims in Pattaya to inform them about the condition of each victim, while the driver is facing intense interrogation after his explanation of the incident was met with heavy skepticism. – The Pattaya News
