A Chinese tourist was killed after being hit by a speeding pickup truck on a zebra crossing in Bang Bo district of Samut Prakan province on Friday night, the first day he arrived in Thailand.
The fatal crash occurred in front of a hotel near Soi Navamin 4 off Bang Na Garden Road, said Pol Lt Pongmetha Charot, deputy investigation chief at Bang Bo station. The incident was reported around 10pm.
Police, medical personnel and rescue workers rushing to the scene found a 67-year-old Chinese man lying unconscious on the road with serious injuries. Medics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him but could not save him. His name was withheld pending family notification.
During the crash, a patrol of tourist police passed the area and saw the license plate numbers of a black Toyota pickup truck, involved in the hit-and-run. The vehicle, equipped with a siren light on its roof, fled the scene at high speed. Authorities, alerted by the patrol, launched a pursuit along the route.
Checks found that the licence plate numbers of the pickup were fake.
Security video from in front of the hotel showed the moment when the tourist, walking on the zebra crossing, was struck by the speeding pickup. The impact propelled his body nearly 100 metres from the scene. Other Chinese tourists and hotel security guards rushed to help him as the vehicle fled.
Kittithara Arjor, a tour guide accompanying the victim’s Chinese tour group, said the group had just arrived in Thailand on the same day. The incident occurred as the victim, having left a nearby 7-Eleven store, was crossing the road to return to his hotel room, said the tour guide.
Pol Lt Pongmethas said the body of the victim was sent to Ramathibodhi Chakri Naruebodindra Hospital in Samut Prakan for a post-mortem examination. Police would coordinate with the Chinese embassy to notify his relatives.
Medics perform CPR on the injured Chinese tourist after he was being hit by a pickup truck. He was later pronounced dead. (Photo: FM91 Trafficpro Facebook)
Later on Saturday morning, authorities found the pickup truck parked at a construction firm in tambon Bang Poo of Muang district, Samut Prakan. Closed-circuit television cameras along the escape route provided clues about the vehicle, which was parked in the compound of Prayot Karnyotha Co in Bang Poo, police said.
The front section of the vehicle was damaged and its siren light removed.
The vehicle registration indicated that the pickup was occupied by a woman, whose name was withheld. She informed the police that she had already sold it to an employee of the firm. Forensic officers collected fingerprints from the vehicle for DNA testing to assist the police in identifying the hit-and-run driver.
