Six Cambodian migrant workers died and 24 others were injured after a pickup truck they traveled in skidded and crashed into a roadside power pole in Wattananakhon district of Srakaew province before dawn Wednesday.
The Thai pickup truck driver was said to escalate his overloaded vehicle in bid to avert a hot-pursuit by authorities.
The fatal crash happened at about 2 am today near Kilometres 283-284 on Suvannasorn road in Wattananakhon district.
Sawang Rescue Operation officials said they were alerted of the crash and request for help as many workers were trapped under the overturned pickup truck.
At the scene, they found a badly damaged pickup truck with Bangkok license plate fallen into the ditch and stuck into the power pole which was broken in two parts.
Several dead bodies were scattered around, and many injured crying for help as they were trapped under the overturned vehicle.
Rescue workers have to pull several workers out from the partly submerged truck in the ditch as they also called in other highway rescue teams for help as there were many workers trapped and badly injured.
All 24 injured workers were pulled out. They were rushed to Wattananakhon and Aranyaprathet hospitals.
Of the six died at the scene are three females and three males.
The truck driver was also found in bushes lying unconsciously. He was also taken to hospital and booked for questioning.
An injured Cambodian worker identified as Sukpieb Sworn, 30, said all the Cambodians from Pursat boarded the pickup truck at Rong Klua market in Aranyaprathet to work in Thailand,
But just less than seven kilometers drive out of Aranyaprathet, the truck was chased by Thai authorities in a car.
This promoted the driver to escalate his truck to avoid the chase.
However the truck skidded and lost balance a few minutes after the run. It fell into the ditch and crashed at a power pole and overturned, he said.
Authorities said all the Cambodians are illegal migrant workers and they will face illegal entry charge.
