Firemen killed and injured in Mae Hong Son

A six-wheel truck, transporting 11 Chachoengsao firefighters to help put off forest fire in Mae Hong Son, plunged into a 10-metre-deep roadside abyss in Pai district yesterday, killing two people and injuring nine, Pai investigator Pol Lt Sithit Amthanom said.

The accident took place on the notorious "100-body" sharp curve on the Chiang Mai-Pai Road in Tambon Mae Hi at 12.50pm. The dead were identified as Amnat Doungsa-ngad, 35, and Suthi Yong-ram, 41. The nine injured were rushed to Pai Hospital, two of them in a critical condition.

Police suspected the driver wasn't familiar with the curvy route and lost control of the vehicle, which overturned and plunged into the abyss.