Thailand: Rescue Teams Are Trying to Recover Bodies of Schoolchildren Trapped in a Burning Bus

Bus Burned in Thailand, October, 1, 2024 Photo: EFE

October 1, 2024 Hour: 4:07 pm

Rescue teams in Thailand are trying to recover the bodies of some 20 schoolchildren and three teachers who were trapped on a bus that burned after an accident outside Bangkok, with 19 survivors.

The Director-General of the Police, Kitrat Phanphet, stated at a press conference that rescue teams carry out the tasks of recovering bodies, after the vehicle was hit by a car crash while transporting 38 schoolchildren and six teachers from Wat Khao Phraya school (in Uthai Thani province) for an excursion to the outskirts of Bangkok, more than 200 kilometres away.

“We can confirm that bodies of deceased persons have been found, but the number has not yet been confirmed. We are currently removing the seats because there are still bodies trapped inside. Once we have removed all the bodies, we will take them to the Forensic Medicine Institute of the Police Hospital”, he said.

Phanphet noted that “the fire broke out very quickly”, and some children and teachers managed to get out through the door of the vehicle and also through the window. Among the survivors are 16 schoolboys and three teachers.

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on his visit to the scene that the number of fatalities could reach 25 (22 of them children), after volunteer teams claimed they had found at least 10 bodies inside the vehicle.

The driver of the bus, a two-storey vehicle that used natural gas as fuel, may have lost control of the vehicle due to a puncture, which would have caused a side collision preceding the fire, said Kittirat Panphet.

The director general of the police, Kitrat Phanphet, said at the press conference that the driver fled after the accident and that a device has been put in place to find him and proceed with his arrest.