Police are still hunting Anant Kaeoma, the driver of the 10-wheel truck carrying four tons of liquefied petroleum gas that crashed into a guardrail early Friday morning March 23.
The truck was seen swerving across the road before hitting the guardrail on Khlong Ban Pa Bridge making police think the driver fell asleep at the wheel or he was driving while intoxicated. The crash caused LPG to leak from the tank and catch fire releasing flames up to 10 meters high.
Explosions from the vehicle blew out the windows of nearby houses and people living close to the crash site were evacuated.
The truck also collided with a water pump, which sent water pouring into the area and helped control the blaze according to The Bangkok Post. Three people were injured in the incident. Buapan Suwansaeng, a 66-year-old carpenter remains in the intensive care unit at Petcharavej Hospital. He sustained burns to 70 per cent of his body.
The owners of the truck, Pilatus Land & Transport, gave 3,000 baht to Mr Buapan’s wife and promised to pay for the treatment of all the injured parties and compensate the owners of damaged properties.
The Land Transport Department plan to study the feasibility of the installation of GPS devices on all vehicles for public transportation and vehicles used to transport harmful substances in a bid to prevent future accidents.
Anant Kaeoma who fled the scene has two more days to hand himself in or an arrest warrant will be issued and a charge of attempting to flee will be added.
Photos of the incident can be found on the Bangkok Post website.
