Eighteen longan pickers in Chiang Mai were injured on Monday morning when the pickup truck in which they were riding overturned as the driver swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle.
A van carrying doctors and nurses happened to be passing by at that moment and stopped to provide first aid.
The injured were then taken to Chiang Dao Hospital. Nine of the passengers were severely hurt.
Police said the accident happened on a bypass road in Chiang Dao district at 7.20am.
Pickup driver Hing Lungwad, 40, who ended up slightly injured, was taking 18 workers, mostly women, from Tambon Muangna in Chiang Dao to the longan orchard in Mae Taeng district.
Hing told police a vehicle was approaching him head-on as it overtook another vehicle, so he swerved to avoid a collision but overturned.
