School field trip ends in tragedy, 19 others rushed to hospitals
Twenty-two students and three teachers on a field trip were killed by a fire that raced through their bus in Pathum Thani on Tuesday.
Nineteen passengers survived the conflagration. All were rushed to hospitals.
The bus was carrying 38 students, from Kindergarten 2 to Mathayom 3, and six teachers from Wat Khao Praya Sangkharam school in Lan Sak district of Uthai Thani.
Khukhot police confirmed 23 students and three teachers died, trapped in the inferno aboard the bus.
Pol Maj Gen Sillakhom Iemwon, deputy commander of Provincial Police Region 1, confirmed that 19 people were rescued. They were taken to Pat Rangsit Hospital and other hospitals.
Police at Khukhot station were informed about noon that a bus was on fire on an inbound lane of Vibhavadi Rangsit and Phahon Yothin roads, near the Zeer Rangsit shopping centre in Lam Luk Ka district in Pathum Thani. The road in this section bears two names.
Rescuers rushed to the scene said the bus’s front left tyre had blown out, and the wheel caught fire. The driver lost control, the bus hit the median barrier and the flames rapidly spread up and throughout the vehicle.
The bus was the second of a three-bus fleet taking students to an exhibition at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand in Bang Kruai district in Nonthaburi. They had earlier visited History Park in Ayutthaya. It was a one-day educational trip.
The bus involved belonged to Chinnaboot Tour, based in Sing Buri.
Police said the driver was not at the scene after the accident and his mobile phone was turned off. They would find him.
The school posted a Facebook message asking all parents of students on the trip to assemble at the school, where it had set up a coordination centre to help them.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra sent condolence messages to the families of those who lost their lives or were injured and said the government would be cover medical costs and provide financial aid to the victims and the bereaved families.
Earlier report: School bus catches fire, students killed