Deadly game

One person was killed and seventeen others injured after a speeding No 6 minibus rammed into roadside trees and a pickup truck in Bangkok's Rat Burana district yesterday morning.

Police rushed to the scene in front of a Susco gas station on the outbound Rat Burana Road at 8.50am to find the wrecked minibus and injured persons, one of whom, 65yearold woman Mariam Naleur, died soon after.

A Mitsubishi pickup truck in the opposite lane showed the result of a headon collision with the minibus.

Passenger Sanit Saengsab, 34, who was slightly injured, said the driver of the privatelyowned minibus had begun racing a rival Bangkok Mass Transit Authority bus. The minibus driver then swerved to avoid a motorcycle but lost control of the vehicle, which hit the trees of the central reservation, he added.

Police suspect the accident was a result of the minibus driver's recklessness. Once driver Ronnachai Pattanathongm, 27, had recovered from his injuries, he would be charged with reckless driving causing injuries and death, said SubLieutenant Sukrit Putthithai of Rat Burana police station.

Rat Burana Road has number 17, 75, 1 and 6 minibuses running along it, and previous accidents have been attributed to their habit of racing one another for passengers.