KANCHANABURI: One illegal migrant from Myanmar was killed and 10 others arrested after a pickup truck carrying them overturned in Sangkhla Buri district late on Wednesday night. A police officer was also injured after being hit by one of three pickup trucks smuggling migrants.
At around 10pm, a joint team of soldiers, police and local authorities spotted the three suspected pickup trucks speeding along a local road at Sanehpong village, Moo 3, in tambon Nong Lu.
Officers signalled the vehicles to stop for a search, but the drivers accelerated and fled. One of the trucks hit and injured Pol Capt Pathiphan Yawan, deputy crime suppression chief at Sangkhla Buri station. The officer was rushed to Sangkhla Buri Hospital.
Shortly after, the team received a report that a pickup truck overturned into a roadside ditch near a homestay in Nong Lu.
Upon arrival, the officers found that the vehicle was one of the three trucks involved in the smuggling operation. One man from Myanmar was found dead inside the wreckage.
The officers inspected the area and found a group of people hiding in a nearby forest. All were confirmed to be illegal migrants from Myanmar. They comprised eight men and two women. The dead man was later identified as Zaw Leng Gu, 22.
All migrants were handed over to police at Sangkhla Buri station for legal action.
One of three pickup trucks carrying illegal migrants overturns in Kanchanaburi’s Sangkhla Buri district late on Wednesday night. (Photo supplied/Piyarat Chongcharoen)