A bus carrying dozens of students from a primary school crashed and caught fire just outside the Thai capital of Bangkok.
Sixteen children and three teachers are believed to have escaped, but 22 students and three teachers are still missing, according to the country’s transport minister.
Authorities say they found ten bodies on the bus, according to the BBC Thai service.
Photographs show the bus completely destroyed by the fire. Investigators were reportedly unable to enter the vehicle due to the heat, according to local media.
The bus was one of three carrying children and teachers returning from a school trip to the northern province of Uthai Thani.
Transport Minister Suriyahe Juangroongruangkit said the bus was powered by compressed natural gas.
“This is a very tragic incident,” Mr. Suriyahe told reporters at the scene.
“The ministry must find a measure… if possible, to ban passenger vehicles like this from using this type of automotive fuel. It is extremely risky,” he added.
The Thai Prime Minister, for his part, ordered the ministers to go there.
“As a mother, I would like to express my deepest regrets to the families of those killed,” said Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
“The government will be responsible for all medical costs and compensation for those killed,” she added.
The bus was traveling on a highway near Bangkok when a tire burst, sending it crashing into a barrier, a rescue worker said in photos broadcast on local television.
Video footage from the scene showed flames engulfing the bus as it burned under an overpass, with huge clouds of dense black smoke rising into the sky.
It is not clear how old the children on board were, but the school serves students aged three to 15.
Thailand has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with unsafe vehicles and poor driving contributing to the high annual death toll.
The source
Related News :