Thai driver, Chinese tourist killed, 7 injured in road accident in southern Thailand

BANGKOK - A Thai driver and a Chinese tourist were killed and seven others injured in a road accident in southern Thailand on Tuesday, according to the Chinese Consulate-General in the southern Thai city Songkhla.

The Chinese female was killed at the spot while three other Chinese females and four Chinese males were injured after a van in which they were riding crashed with an 18-wheel trailer truck on a road in Takua Thung district of Phang Nga province, about 760 km south of Bangkok.

All of the injured are now being treated at a local hospital in Phang Nga while two of them, who suffered severe injuries, were transferred to another hospital in Phuket Tuesday afternoon, the Chinese Consulate-General said.

The consulate-general has sent representatives to visit the injured.

According to Thai media, the trailer truck was about to take a U-turn when the van rammed into the rear of the truck, the police said.

The Thai driver of the speeding van, who was pronounced dead at the hospital, had picked up the Chinese tourists from Phuket and was heading to a pier in the southern province where they would take a boat trip to Similan islands.