At least 16 people were injured, most of them young children, after a car ploughed into the rear wall of a childcare centre in Kanchanaburi province on August 7, with the driver telling police he suffered a sudden medical episode at the wheel.
The crash happened at the Ban Nong Song Ton childcare centre, run by Kaeng Siao Subdistrict Administrative Organisation in Mueang district, at 11.45am. The 191 police radio centre received the initial report, and Mueang Kanchanaburi Police Station alerted rescue volunteers from the Phithak Kan Foundation to the scene.
Almost 50 children were at the centre at the time, having just finished lunch and settled down for their afternoon nap. Teachers rushed the children out of the affected room as soon as the car struck the building. Twenty children were unharmed and later collected by their parents, while 14 injured children and two adults from the car, who are relatives, were taken to Phahonpolphayuhasena Hospital. The injured children suffered cuts to the head and mouth and bruising after being struck by chunks of concrete that broke off the wall when the car hit it.
At the scene, police found a black Honda Civic registered in Kanchanaburi. The driver was named as Chatchawan Panthum, from Nong Khao subdistrict in Tha Muang district. Investigators said Chatchawan had been driving at speed from Moo 6 in Kaeng Siao subdistrict when the car lost control on a bend, crashed through the centre’s rear wall directly behind the children’s nap room, then spun into a stand of banana plants before stopping. Police said Chatchawan told them an existing medical condition had flared up, causing him to briefly lose consciousness while driving. Officers are reviewing CCTV footage from the centre as part of the investigation.
Amphai Rithikhamrop, president of Kaeng Siao Subdistrict Administrative Organisation, went to the scene to help coordinate the response and reported the incident to Somboon Phaensomboon, chief of Mueang Kanchanaburi district. At 1pm, Kanchanaburi governor Waritsatha Sanguansermsri visited the hospital with Somboon to check on the injured children and speak with their families, instructing staff to give the injured full medical care and directing agencies to investigate the crash and assist affected families urgently.
All those injured remain under medical care. Police say further updates will be released as the investigation continues, reported Thai Rath.
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