Seven people were killed and 12 others injured Wednesday when a pickup truck plunged into a roadside irrigation canal in central Ayutthaya province of Thailand, 65 km north of Bangkok.

The seven dead people included five women and the driver. Those injured were identified as illegal migrant workers who were sitting on the back of the vehicle.

A primary investigation suggested that the driver saw a police checkpoint and tried to avoid before it had the accident.

The police spent about two hours in order to lift the pick-up truck out of the canal.