A pickup truck packed with 16 people celebrating the start of the Moslem holiday Eid al-Fitr smashed into a U-turn sign over the weekend, killing six people, police said Monday. The accident occurred late Sunday evening at Sungai Kolok, 830 kilometres south of Bangkok, when Losuedi Suemae, 34, lost control of his pickup and crashed into a U-turn sign, flipping the pickup over, said Police Sub-Lieutenant Sittidej Leungsom, of Munoh sub-district police station. Four of the passengers died at the scene of the crash and two others died in hospital, while the remaining 10 suffered injuries. Losuedi, who survived the crash, was charged with reckless driving leading to bodily harm of others. "The weather and road conditions were fine," said Sittidej. "Maybe the driver fell asleep at the wheel." Losuedi was returning from Narathiwat city, where he and his family were visiting relatives to celebrate the start of the Eid al-Fitr period marking the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Moslems. Thailand's three southernmost provinces - Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala - have predominantly Moslem populations, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the 2 million residents in the region. The rest of Thailand is primarily Buddhist, the national religion.
