Chonburi Police and rescue services were called to the scene of an accident on the Pattaya bound carriageway of the motorway at Km 75 near Nongkhangkhok.
A Toyota Altis taxi was in the right hand lane of the highway engulfed in flames. There was significant front end damage. Nearby was a Toyota Hilux Pick-up truck that had rear end damage.
The driver of the Bangkok based Taxi Khun Attakrit aged 34 from Samai District in Bangkok and the driver of the Pick-up Khun Suwichai aged 26 from Sakeo Province were both injured in the accident. They were given first aid at the scene and then transported by volunteer rescue foundation vehicles to Chonburi hospital for emergency treatment.
Police had to close the whole carriageway for fear that the taxi's gas tank could explode. This caused a 10 Km traffic jam. It took fire fighters about 20 minutes to bring the CNG gas fuelled blaze under control.
Police will need to talk to the drivers of both vehicles when they are in a fit state to be interviewed. At the moment the police are assuming that this could well be another instance of a fatigued driver on a long journey simply falling asleep at the wheel.
