BANGKOK • Four Mexican tourists were killed and six others were injured when their tour van crashed into a tree in central Thailand.

The accident happened in Phichit province late on Thursday as the group travelled in a rented van from Bangkok to the historic Thai capital of Sukhothai.

"The driver lost control of the van and it veered off the road and into a tree. Four people died - two men and two women - while six are injured, one of them critically," a district policeman, Captain Patiwat Sonthirod, said yesterday.

Police said the tourists were travelling in a family group in their van when they encountered heavy rain, the Bangkok Post reported. It is also believed that the vehicle might have skidded off the road due to poor visibility and slippery road conditions.

Thailand has the second-most dangerous roads in the world in terms of per capita deaths.

Thirteen Malaysian tourists died in a bus crash before Christmas.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE