A devastating fire tore through a Thai bus carrying 44 students and teachers on a school trip Tuesday, officials said, with up to 25 feared dead.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said there were fatalities and offered condolences to the victims’ families.
Transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said the number of fatalities was not clear but 25 people were unaccounted for after the blaze.
“Initial reports said there are 44 on board, 38 students and six teachers. As far as we know now, three teachers and 16 students got out,” he told reporters.
“For those still missing, we are not clear yet.”
The buswas carrying students from Uthai Thani province when a tyre burst on a highway in a northernBangkok suburb, sending the vehicle crashing into a barrier, a rescue worker said in footage broadcast on local TV.
The bus was running on compressed gas and the crash ignited its fuel tanks, the rescue worker said.
Video footage from the scene showed flames engulfing the bus as it burned under an overpass, huge clouds of dense black smoke billowing into the sky.
“I have learned of the fire on a bus carrying students from Uthai Thani… resulting in deaths andinjuries,” Paetongtarn wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“As a mother, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the injured and deceased.”
The blaze has been put out but rescue workers have had to wait for the bus to cool down before searching it for bodies, a rescue worker said.
Thailand has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with unsafe vehicles and poor drivingcontributing to the high annual death toll.
According to the report, 16 children and three teachers managed to get out of the bus. However, 22 children and three teachers are still ‘missing’.
Photos released from the scene of the accident showed the bus completely engulfed in flames. Investigators were unable to enter the vehicle due to the heat of the fire, local media reported.
The bus was carrying children and teachers returning from a school field trip in northern Uthai Thani province.
Thailand’s Transport Minister Suriyahe said this is a very sad incident. Whether the bus was CNG (Compressed Natural Gas)-powered or not will be checked.
He said, ‘The ministry must find a way. If possible, the use of CNG for such passenger vehicles will be banned. Because it’s too risky.
