Five people were killed and two others severely injured when a pickup truck was struck by a northbound train at a railway crossing in Muang district on Monday evening.
The accident occurred around 6:15 p.m. at Moo 1 village in tambon Pak Thang, Muang district.
According to police, passenger train 201 from Bangkok to Phitsanulok approached the crossing, which lacked safety barriers, around 6 p.m.
A four-door pickup truck with Phitchit plates drove across the tracks directly into the train’s path. The train driver could not stop or slow down in time to avoid the collision.
The impact propelled the pickup approximately 30 meters beyond the railway crossing, off to the side. All passengers in the pickup were ejected from the vehicle. Three women died instantly, and two more people succumbed to their injuries later at Phichit Hospital. Two others sustained serious injuries.
Police investigators reported that the truck driver, Pratya Khongthat, 40, was transporting relatives, including women and a girl, to a funeral at Wat Ratchangkhwan in tambon Pak Thang, located about one kilometer from the crash site.
The deceased included four women and a 14-year-old girl. The driver survived.
The wrecked pickup truck, tossed 30-metres down the track when hit by a train at a crossing in Phichit on Monday. (Photo: Sitthipoj Kebui)
