Cyclist death driver surrenders to police

Saran Inthanon surrenders to Khok Khram police after he fled from a fatal crash involving cyclists on Monday. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

The driver of a car that smashed into a group of cyclists on Monday night, killing one of them, surrendered to police on Thursday after having fled the crash scene.

Saran Inthanon went to Khok Khram police station with his lawyer to face charges over the death of Thanyakorn Densirimongkol, a 31-year-old female bike rider, and injuring two others as the three were cycling along Ratchada-Ram Intra Road in Bung Kum district on Monday night.

The 23-year-old driver revealed he was behind the wheel of the black Honda Jazz that hit the cyclists. There was another woman with him in the vehicle.

The accident stirred public outrage after he reportedly got out of the car to apologise and then fled after rescue services arrived, leaving the vehicle and victims behind.

Mrs Thanyakorn succumbed to her injuries at a hospital where the three were treated.

Mr Saran said at the police station that he lost control of the car on a curve as he tried to overtake another car. He said the crash caused him to panic and he decided to rush home to consult his family before turning himself in when police began to hunt for the driver.

He said he was not driving under the influence of alcohol when the crash occurred. But he admitted that he stopped the car before the crash to talk with his girlfriend on a mobile phone as the two quarrelled.

Mr Saran and his lawyer brought 250,000 baht in cash with them in the hope bail would be granted after police formally press charges against him. But a decision has not yet been made as he has been taken to the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MBP) for further questioning.

"I was scared and shocked at what had happened,'' he told reporters at the MPB office. ''I was sorry and would like to apologise."

He was charged with reckless driving causing death and injury to other people.

Pol Col Kittichet Sakayaphabvichanont, the Khok Khram police chief, said the car was not stolen as police earlier suspected. The owner of the car was the former husband of the woman in the car with the driver, he added.

The crash on Monday night was the third fatal accident in two days involving cyclists. Three bikers in Chiang Mai province were killed by an alleged drink-driver on Sunday morning and a cyclist in Ayutthaya province died after a lorry hit him on Monday.

About 150 cyclists on Wednesday biked from the San Sai Luang Municipality office in San Sai district of Chiang Mai province to the location in Doi Saket district where the three northern bikers were killed on Sunday to bid farewell to them.