16 Killed in Car Crash in Thailand’s Northeast

At least 16 people, most of them construction workers, were killed when a pickup truck crashed into a tree on a rural road in Thailand’s northeast on Monday, police said.

The pickup truck was carrying a number of construction workers in the back when it hit the tree next to a road in Ban Dan district in Buriram province, 300 kilometers (190 miles) northeast of Bangkok, police Col. Suthee Setthawong said.

He said that 10 men, including the 24-year-old driver, and 6 women, were killed, while at least five others were injured and taken for hospital treatment.

“The accident happened on a straight stretch of the road and there was no rain. No other cars were involved. At this point, it’s likely he was falling asleep while the car was traveling at high speed,” Suthee told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Police also found a tablet of methamphetamine in the driver’s pocket and a bottle of alcohol next to his seat, Suthee said.

Police said they were working to identify the construction workers, as well as their nationalities. The driver was a Thai national.