Lt Patcharee Wongboon of the Wichit Police was notified of an accident at the Darasamut Intersection at 11pm yesterday (July 20) and arrived at the scene together with Kusoldharm rescued workers to find a silver bronze Toyota Corolla Altis green-plate (commercial passenger vehicle) taxi crashed into a road sign positioned on the corner of the central reservation.
Nearby was a black Nissan Cefiro green-plate taxi.
An unnamed rescue worker who attended the scene told The Phuket News, “A female Chinese tourist aged around 30 years old had injured her chest and lower abdomen as a result of the crash. At first she didn’t want to go to hospital as she said she needed to get to the airport take catch a flight.
“However, we managed to convince her to go to hospital because we were afraid that she might have sustained internal injuries and she was taken to Siriroj International Hospital (formerly Phuket International Hospital).
“Neither of the taxi drivers were injured,” the rescue worker said.
Lt Patcharee added, “The driver of the black Nissan Cefiro, Mr Somporn Suwanchatree, 53, was driving from Surakul Stadium towards Patong to pick up some customers and stopped at red lights at the intersection. When the lights turned green he slowly made his way across the intersection but was hit by the Toyota Corolla Altis.
“The driver of the Corolla Altis, Mr Natthaphong Chuayglab, 31, was taking a Chinese passenger from Karon to the airport when he collided with Mr Somporn’s vehicle and then crashed into the road sign.
“He was travelling at high speed,” Lt Patcharee explained.
“We will check CCTV footage from the area and continue our investigation into the accident,” Lt Patcharee added.
Police have yet to decide whether to press any charges.