SAMUT PRAKAN, Thailand – A six-year-old boy was killed and his mother injured after an 18-wheel trailer truck crashed into their pickup and crushed it against another trailer parked for repairs on the Kanchanaphisek Expressway in Samut Prakan shortly after midnight on October 15. The accident occurred at approximately 12.30am on the Bang Phli–Suksawat section of the expressway, heading towards Rama II, near kilometre marker 13+300 before the Chang Sam Sian toll plaza.
Rescue workers used hydraulic cutting equipment to free the mother and son, who were trapped inside the pickup. The mother was rescued with injuries, but the boy, who had been waiting in the vehicle for his father, was pronounced dead at the scene. Initial investigations found that the father had stopped his pickup to help repair another broken-down trailer truck on the expressway. Warning lights had been switched on and traffic cones placed around the parked vehicle.
At the same time, another 18-wheel trailer truck travelling from Rayong towards Nakhon Pathom suffered a blowout on its inner front wheel pair. The driver reportedly used a chain attached to a wheel-lifting crane to raise the damaged wheel clear of the road, then attempted to continue driving to get the truck off the expressway.
However, the raised wheel slipped down and touched the road, causing the truck to lose control and slam into the rear of the pickup. The impact forced the pickup into the back of the trailer that the father had stopped to help repair, trapping the mother and child inside. Police from Mueang Samut Prakan Police Station summoned the trailer truck driver and other people involved for further questioning as investigators worked to establish the circumstances and determine legal responsibility.
