“As the pickup was racing at the back of the race track, its headlights suddenly went out. The vehicle then swerved into the crowds,” Pol Major Prayut Kambornpitak, an inspector at Nam Phong Police Station, |said yesterday, citing testimony by eyewitnesses.

The accident occurred just outside the racecourse.

The pickup driver apparently ignored the rules of the racecourse that barred vehicles from revving up their engines and testing their speed outside designated tracks on the circuit.

“When I rushed to the spot with rescue workers, the scene was chaotic,” he said.

Teenage casualty

The races are held at the old Nam Phong airport, which no longer services flights to and from the province.

Because of the accident, the monthly race was aborted just after it started. Spectators had paid Bt100 admission.

The dead victim, Thitima Ruangmogtri, 18, had gone to watch the event with her friend.

She was taken to a small hospital, which said her injuries were too serious for it to handle, and referred her to a second hospital, which pronounced her dead upon arrival.

Two victims, both 19, were in critical condition and still receiving treatment at the second hospital, while four were treated for minor wounds and released.