Thai van driver held after Swedish death crash
The driver of the van that crashed into a minibus, killing four young Swedish holidaymakers on Wednesday, has been arrested in Phuket after being on the run for two days.
"I can confirm that the suspected driver has been arrested," said Santi Prakobparn of the Phang Nga police district to daily Aftonbladet.
The accident had occurred when the two men and two women, all in their early twenties, where en route between Patong in Phuket and Koh Tao, according to the Swedish police.
The young adults had arrived in Thailand on January 19th and had planned to stay in the country for three weeks.
The group’s Thai driver died in the accident, which has been described as severe.
According to daily Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) it took emergency services three hours to recover the bodies from the wrecked vehicle.
Thai media reported that the van driver fled the scene straight after the crash and was being sought by local police.
According to Expressen, the man arrived at the station wearing handcuffs and was immediately arrested upon his arrival to the station.
“It is still unclear whether he came into the station on his own accord,” the paper's correspondent Niklas Svensson said from Thailand.
Following his arrest, the man has been brought to the court in Phang Nga where a remand hearing will take place over the course of the day.
"We will begin the remand proceedings later today," Prakobparn confirmed to Aftonbladet early on Friday.
According to Svensson, the man has admitted to the police that he drove the van at the time of the accident but can't explain why he was driving on the wrong side of the road.
Police believe that he might have nodded off while driving, but the man denies that this is the case.
According to the paper he was remanded into custody around 11am on Friday.
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"I can confirm that the suspected driver has been arrested," said Santi Prakobparn of the Phang Nga police district to daily Aftonbladet.
The accident had occurred when the two men and two women, all in their early twenties, where en route between Patong in Phuket and Koh Tao, according to the Swedish police.
The young adults had arrived in Thailand on January 19th and had planned to stay in the country for three weeks.
The group’s Thai driver died in the accident, which has been described as severe.
According to daily Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) it took emergency services three hours to recover the bodies from the wrecked vehicle.
Thai media reported that the van driver fled the scene straight after the crash and was being sought by local police.
According to Expressen, the man arrived at the station wearing handcuffs and was immediately arrested upon his arrival to the station.
“It is still unclear whether he came into the station on his own accord,” the paper's correspondent Niklas Svensson said from Thailand.
Following his arrest, the man has been brought to the court in Phang Nga where a remand hearing will take place over the course of the day.
"We will begin the remand proceedings later today," Prakobparn confirmed to Aftonbladet early on Friday.
According to Svensson, the man has admitted to the police that he drove the van at the time of the accident but can't explain why he was driving on the wrong side of the road.
Police believe that he might have nodded off while driving, but the man denies that this is the case.
According to the paper he was remanded into custody around 11am on Friday.
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