Five Vietnamese workers killed in Thai road crash

By Nguyen Quy   March 23, 2019 | 07:16 am PT
Five Vietnamese workers killed in Thai road crash
Rescue workers search for victims following a crash involving a passenger van and a trailer truck Saturday in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. Photo courtesy of Facebook 123 Khondee Mee Namjai.
At least eight foreign workers, including five Vietnamese, died after a passenger van plunged into a canal in Thailand Saturday.

Around 12.20 p.m, the 16-seater passenger van carrying 14 foreign migrant workers was hit by a 10-wheel trailer truck at the Srasetthi intersection in Tha Muang District, Kanchanaburi Province, around 150 kilometers to the west of Bangkok.

After the crash, both vehicles plunged into a roadside canal, the Bangkok Post reported.

Around 100 rescue workers and police officers were rushed to the accident site. As of 1.40 p.m, eight bodies had been recovered.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand has confirmed that the dead included five Vietnamese nationals.

Four other passengers were rescued and taken to a local hospital for treatment while two others are still missing, and are suspected to have drowned. A search is ongoing.

The passenger van driver has survived the accident.

The Road Safety Risk Map for 2019 released by International SOS and Control Risks shows Thailand has the highest road death rate in Southeast Asia, followed by Vietnam.

Vietnam sent a record number of 140,000 guest workers abroad last year, an increase of 7 percent from a year ago. According to the International Organization for Migration, around 100,000 Vietnamese leave the country every year to live in more developed nations.

 
 
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