A 67-year-old woman drove her car through the glass frontage of a shopping mall in Bangkok’s On Nut area on Wednesday, injuring six people, including a six-year-old girl.
The driver claimed she had accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake after being startled when the vehicle began to move.
Rescue workers took the injured victims to nearby hospitals for treatment.
One of the victims, an 81-year-old woman, told investigators that she had been helping a visually impaired person sell lottery tickets at the mall when the car suddenly crashed into the area where they were sitting.
A metal barrier in front of their seating area helped slow the vehicle, she said. However, she injured her right leg when a metal post was dislodged by the impact and struck her.
The driver told investigators that she had panicked when the car began moving. She intended to press the brake but accidentally stepped on the accelerator, causing the vehicle to surge forward and smash through the mall’s glass frontage.
She said she had been too shocked to get out of the car immediately after the crash.
The driver apologised to all those injured and said her insurance company would cover the damage caused by the incident. She also pledged to provide additional financial assistance to each victim.
Police said they had not yet filed charges against the driver, as investigators needed to take statements from all the injured victims before proceeding with the case.
