Public road accident

Twelve people were killed and 30 others injured in two road crashes within four kilometres of each other in this southern province on Wednesday night and Thursday.
Police from the Chaiya station and rescuers were called about 7am on Thursday to an incident on Asian Highway 41 at kilometre marker 124/500, said Pol Maj Pichit Khaosuwan, the station chief.
They found a Toyota pickup truck with Bangkok licence plates with its front badly damaged next to a tree on the median.
Four people — two girls and two boys — were found dead at the scene, according to rescuers. Three other adults were seriously injured and rushed to Chaiya Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, local media reported.
A witness told police the truck had been travelling at high speed before swerving to avoid a minivan that was parked at the roadside to pick up some students, leading to the crash.
Police said the truck was travelling from Chumphon province to Trang, and that all its occupants were related.
The crash occurred about 4 kilometres away from the site of a tour bus accident that killed five people and injured 30 on the same road on Wednesday night.
The bus carrying 37 people skidded off Asian Highway 41 and plunged into a roadside ditch opposite the Donrak resort in tambon Pawae of Chaiya district at about 7.30pm on Wednesday, said local police.
The force of the crash killed five people at the scene and injured 30 others, three seriously. Of the injured, 12 were sent to Chaiya Hospital and the 18 others to Tha Chang Hospital.
Driver Suthep Boonchum, 47, told police that the bus was carrying 36 tourists with 2 drivers from Samut Sakhon province to visit Betong in Yala.
On the way back to Samut Sakhon, one passenger got off the bus, leaving 37 people on board.
One passenger said he heard what sounded like the bus falling into a hole before it skidded off the road into the ditch dividing the road. It hit several trees.
The two bus drivers were detained for questioning.
Rescue workers took the bodies of the dead to the Kusolsatthra Surat Thani rescue foundation pending the arrival of relatives to claim the bodies for funeral rites.