Thailand: Several dead in school bus fire

The school bus was carrying 44 students and teachers when it caught fire after crashing on a highway in northern Bangkok. Up to 23 people are feared dead.

A school bus caught fire in the Thai capital, Bangkok, with multiple people feared dead, officials said Tuesday.

The bus was carrying 38 students and six teachers on a school trip from Wat Khao Phraya school in Uthai Thani province, when a tire burst, causing the vehicle to crash into a barrier.

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said 21 people escaped from the blaze but 23 are still unaccounted for and likely to be dead. He said the driver of the bus had survived, but fled the scene.

Many of the survivors were severely burned, local media reported.

A rescue worker told a local news channel the accident occurred around noon in a northern Bangkok suburb. The crash ignited the fuel tanks sparking the fire, the worker added.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra offered her condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. 

"As a mother, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the injured and deceased," she said in a post on X.

23 unaccounted for

Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit told reporters the bus was traveling from central Uthai Thani province to Ayutthaya on a school trip.

"As far as we know now, three teachers and 16 students got out. For those still missing, we are not clear yet," he told reporters.

Local media footage showed huge flames and plumes of smoke coming from the bus before fire crews extinguished the blaze.

 "Some of the bodies we rescued were very, very small. They must have been very young in age," Piyalak Thinkaew, who lead the search, told reporters at the scene, adding that the fire started at the front of the bus

"The kids' instinct was to escape to the back so the bodies were there," he said, adding that some remains were so badly burned they might not be able to be identified.

Thailand has poor road safety conditions. Outdated vehicles and unsafe driving contributes to its high road accident death toll.

tg/nm (AFP, Reuters)