PHATTHALUNG, Dec 22 — Eighteen apparently illegally trafficked ethnic Rohingya migrants, including three children, were injured yesterday when their pickup truck overturned in this southern province, police said.
The driver of the vehicle lost control and it overturned in a village here, police said.
All 18 migrants were sent to a hospital for treatment.
Police said the driver fled the scene of the accident and was still at large.
It was believed that the Rohingya migrants illegally entered Thailand from Myanmar and were heading to the Thai-Malaysian border, probably to stay that country.
Police said they would coordinate with Social Development and Human Security Ministry officials and determine whether the migrants were lured by human traffickers, but they would later expel the migrants from Thailand.
Most Rohingya migrants have fled suppression in Myanmar and arrived in Thailand by sea and hoped to settle in Thailand’s neighbouring countries.
