Nakhon Ratchasima —
A 79-year-old Dutch pickup truck driver collided with a concrete barrier in a center traffic island on Mittraphap road, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, leading to 2 deaths, and a sole survivor who had fastened his seatbelt.
At 10:30 AM, on October 1st, 2023, Pol. Lt Col. Uuaychai Phromwong, Klang Dong Police Station, Pak Chong District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, and an emergency service team received an accident report about a pickup truck colliding with a concrete barrier in the center traffic island on Mittraphap road.
According to the report from the rescue squad, the pickup truck was severely crushed on the right side and a right wheel had bounced off. A driver and a rear seated passenger were found crushed to death.
However, another front-seated passenger suffered only a minor injury as he had fastened his seatbelt. The emergency teams used rescue equipment to break into the car to retrieve the wounded and bodies.
On initial investigation, relevant police officers later publicly identified the victims of the car crash accident following contacting the embassy and relatives: Mr. Frederik Janssen, 79 years old Dutch, Mr. Frederik Diederik Janssen, 49 years old, also Dutch, and the only survivor, Mr. Bakker Gerrit Jan, 70 years old, also Dutch. All of them had been living in Thailand as expats for more than 20 years.
Mr. Bakker told local Thai media that they were heading back to Udon Thani Province after a trip from Bangkok but said he could not remember anything related to the accident. Bakker reportedly attributed his survival to always tightly fastening his seatbelt.
The accident cause was still under investigation as of press time with the exact reason still undetermined.
