During the rescue operation, the broken power pole sparked and set off a small brush fire. Initially some 30 people were found injured and taken to nearby hospitals, where three men and three women were pronounced dead.

Sukpieb Son, 30, a Cambodian man who survived the accident, said the truck driver was speeding in an effort to flee from a police vehicle.

The accident took place at 2am on Suwannasorn Road in Sa Kaew’s Wattana Nakhon district. Most of the dead workers were trapped under water by the overturned truck. The injured were taken to the Wattana Nakhon and Aranyaprathet hospitals.

Sukpieb said the accident happened just 7 kilometres from the Rong Klua market where they had been picked up. He said the driver, Sai Chalermsri, 43, accelerated after spotting a vehicle chasing from behind.

Chalermsri was found unconscious in the forest nearby. He sustained serious injuries during the crash and tried to flee, but collapsed, said Pol Lt-Colonel Katanyu Puangkor, investigation chief at Watthana Nakhon Police Station.