Pregnant Woman Killed By Phuket Cement Truck

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Pregnant woman killed by Phuket cement truck

Phuket Gazette

A Thalang Police officer takes notes at the crash site as Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation workers prepare to take Mr Prasert’s body to the Thalang Hospital morgue. He was one of at least two road accident fatalities in Phuket yesterday. Photo: Wichai Witthawat

The crumpled remains of Mr Attapon’s motorbike. Photo: Wichai witthawat

PHUKET: -- A woman seven months pregnant was run over and killed by a speeding cement truck in Patong yesterday. Hours later a man died in a high-speed motorbike collision on the Old Airport Road on Phuket's west coast.

A report in Siangtai Daily named the woman in the Patong accident as 31-year-old Indonesian national Erna Dahlan.

Police arrived at the scene on Nanai Road in Patong at about 5pm to find more than 100 people silently staring at the bodies on the road.

Ms Dahlan’s body was pinned under the wheels of the cement truck. The unborn child was also dead.

Through his tears, Ms Dahlan’s English partner told police that he and Ms Dahlan were returning home from the Jungceyclon shopping complex when the accident happened. Ms Dahlan was riding side-saddle behind him and wearing a safety helmet.

The speeding cement truck hit the motorbike and Ms Dahlan was run over by the rear wheels, he said.

The driver of the cement truck, 49-year-old Kathu resident Aroon Boonnaburi, allegedly tried to flee the scene. He was stopped by local residents, who held him until police arrived, said the Siangtai report.

Later yesterday evening, one man was killed and another seriously injured in what police believe was a high-speed, head-on collision between two motorbikes on the Old Airport Road, which runs along the coast south of Phuket International Airport.

Police were notified of the crash at 9:10pm by residents of Sakoo Village 8.

Arriving at the scene, in front of a cement plant, officers found the body of 32-year-old Prasert Temkhaow lying on the pavement beside the crumpled remains of his motorbike.

Mr Prasert, originally from Chana district in Songkhla, rented a room in the area and worked as a cobbler, police investigation revealed.

He was wearing a black T-shirt with an image of a grim reaper with a dagger clenched between its teeth. Above the image was: “US Navy Seals ‘Survival of the Fittest’”. He was not wearing a safety helmet and died of massive head trauma.

About 10 meters away police found another badly damaged motorbike. Its driver, conscious but in shock, was later identified as 22-year-old Attapon Laolang, a resident of Sakoo Village 5.

Mr Attapon was rushed to Thalang Hospital for emergency treatment and then transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town.

Rescue workers said he suffered serious wounds to the head and chest. He was not wearing a crash helmet.

Police questioned local residents, none of whom witnessed the collision. They ran out to see what happened after hearing a loud crash, they said.

The area where the collision took place, about half a kilometer south of the Saladaeng Junction, is dark and dangerous at night, and the site of many accidents, the residents said.

For more on Phuket's seemingly uncontrolled traffic carnage, see yesterday's editorial in the Gazette Online.

Additional reporting by Wichai Witthawat.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle11938.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-01-09

[LivinginKata]

RIP to the deceased. I was encouraged to read that the locals on Nanai Rd would not allow the driver to flee the scene.

[stefan2519]

This is the sort of news I never wish happens let alone know about :-(

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Truck driver charged over Phuket horror crash

Phuket Gazette

Both vehicles turned into the access road to Phuket's Royal Crown Hotel at the same time, with tragic results for all. Photo: Atchaa Khamlo

PHUKET: -- The driver of the truck involved in the horrific road accident that claimed the life of an Indonesian woman and her unborn son in Patong yesterday has been charged, police told the Phuket Gazette today.

Lt Col Chaowalit Neamwadee of Patong Police told the Gazette that truck driver Aroon Bunnaburi was held at Patong Police Station overnight and released on bail today.

“He has been charged with with reckless driving causing death,” he said.

The Indonesian woman, 30-year-old Erna Dahlan, was riding pillion and side-saddle on a motorbike operated by her British husband when the two vehicles collided.

She fell off and was run over by the truck’s rear wheels. Both Ms Erna and her unborn child were killed instantly.

Mullika Satupak, a 72-year-old who runs a tailor shop in the area, witnessed the accident.

She told the Gazette that Mr Dahlan was riding in the northbound lane of the narrow Nanai Road and turned right onto the steep access road that leads to the Royal Crown Hotel.

Meanwhile, a cement truck whose driver had the same destination in mind swung wide into the oncoming lane before turning into the narrow street, probably in order not to lose too much momentum as he started his ascent up the steep hill, she said.

The two vehicles met at the base of the hill, with horrific results for the Dahlan family.

“The couple hit the side of the truck and the bike went down. Ms Dahlan was thrown under the vehicle,” she said.

Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers were notified of the accident at about 4pm. They took Ms Dahlan’s body to Patong Hospital.

The English man suffered only minor injuries but was deeply traumatized.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle11946.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-01-10

[Valentine]

Another senseless tragedy & overwhelming sadness for the husband. If the witness report of the accident is accurate then it pretty well sums up the attitude of many concrete truck drivers (as well as others such as mini bus drivers) who see no problem in speeding & tailgating on busy roads. The probable cause for this may well lay with their bosses who impose strict conditions to ensure they get to & from their destinations as quickly as possible aka the greed money making factor without any consideration for public safety.

[thaiIand]

very sad that is why i always recommand people to move their motorbikes in the middle of t he lane when someone is in a hurry behind you or you'll get hit from the side once they decide to crunch past you. I forgot to do this yesterday and a speeding construction truck almost hit my side mirror on a small street just to go on and stop behind cars 7meters ahead. If you block the whole lane with your motorbike they have to kill people in the oncoming lane instead of you.

[FritsSikkink]

RIP but riding side-saddle on a motorbike is not very safe.