40-Ton Durian Truck Headed for China Overturns After Collision; Driver Trapped in Wreckage for 7 Hours but Miraculously Survives
A 40-ton durian truck destined for China overturned after colliding with a pickup truck near the Nakhon Phanom border, trapping the 50-year-old driver for seven hours before rescue teams extracted him alive with severe injuries.
A 40-ton trailer truck loaded with durians destined for China collided with a pickup truck and overturned on the roadside while crossing the border, with the driver trapped in the wreckage for over 7 hours but miraculously surviving. On April 27, rescue personnel from Sawang Nawa Nakhon Phanom rescue association, paramedics from Somdej Phra Yuppharat Nakhon Phanom Hospital, Red Cross volunteers, and personnel from Teck Ka Chee Mok Koh in Mukdahan province, along with other emergency responders, worked to rescue the 50-year-old truck driver after the collision near Ban Don Sawan in Uam Mao subdistrict, Thaen Nakhon Phanom district. The pickup truck's driver escaped unharmed after being rear-ended and running off the road, but the trailer truck driver sustained severe injuries and became trapped inside. Rescue teams deployed oxygen, ventilators, and hydraulic cutting equipment to extract the critically injured driver, a process that took over 7 hours. Remarkably, the driver retained vital signs throughout and was rushed to Somdej Phra Yuppharat Nakhon Phanom Hospital. Initial investigation suggests the truck driver may have dozed off during the lengthy journey from central Thailand to the Nakhon Phanom border region while transporting over 40 tons of durians through the Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge via Khammouane, Laos, through Vietnam, and on to China.