Round-the-world cyclist from Chile killed by pickup truck in Thailand

A Chilean cyclist's quest to cycle around the world in five years has ended with his death in a road accident in Thailand that miraculously spared his Singaporean wife and child who were travelling on their own bike.

Juan Francisco Guillermo, 47, was hit by a pickup truck and killed on Saturday on a highway in Nakhon Ratchasima province in the northeast of the country.

Guillermo was attempting to set a Guinness World Record by cycling 250,000km across five continents in five years. His journey started in November 2010 and was scheduled to end in November this year, apparently in Australia.

Guillermo's wife, who was on another bicycle with their two-year-old son Lucas, suffered a slight sprain in the accident, said police Colonel Torsak Thammingmongkol.

The accident happened after the family had made a rest stop at a police checkpoint in Khon Kaen's Phon district, before setting off to Nakhon Ratchasima.

The 64-year-old driver of the pickup truck hit the bicycle, which was pulling a carriage, and Guillermo, named in Thai media as Francisco Villa, was thrown from the saddle and died instantly. His bicycle was completely destroyed.

The truck crashed into a ditch and overturned, but the driver was not hurt, according to the Chiang Rai Times. He told police he had not seen the bicycle.