Two Swedish tourists die in Phuket car crash

Two Swedish tourists died instantly and a third suffered serious head injuries on February 25 when their rented jeep ran off the road and hit a tree near the entrance to Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort.
     The local newspaper, Phuket Gazette reported that the Swedes according to the police were driving toward Patong when they lost control after hitting a tuk-tuk they were trying to overtake. He named the two dead men as Jan Nicklas Soderstjerna, 25, and Kent Mikael Andreas Elenmo, 24, who was driving the car.
     The third injured passenger was Martin Joensson, 23, who had arrived in Phuket just the day before. He was taken to Patong Hospital for emergency treatment for head injuries, which were described by a nurse at the hospital as “serious but not life threatening”. He was later transferred to Phuket International Hospital. He is conscious but unable to speak.
     “Both the jeep and the tuk-tuk went off the road. The tuk-tuk ended up in a canal but the jeep hit a big tree before also ending up in the canal. Mr Elenmo and Mr Soderstjerna died instantly,” Pol Maj Boonlert Onklang, an inspector at Kathu Police Stations, told Phuket Gazette.
     The tuk-tuk driver, Ratchapol Kaewkeau, 25, and his passenger, Thairong Numuang, escaped serious injury.
     Maj Boonlert said that Mr Soderstjerna’s girlfriend, who came forward later, told police that all three men had been drinking at a bar in Karon before heading for Patong.
     The bodies of the dead men were sent to Thalang Hospital to await instructions from the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok.

About Gregers Møller

Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

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