Sarah Newey
in Bangkok
01 October 2024 2:27pm
At least 20 children and three teachers are feared dead after a bus carrying dozens of primary school pupils was engulfed in flames on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Some 44 passengers were on board when the fire broke out on Tuesday, causing a blaze so intense rescue workers were unable to enter the vehicle for several hours because of the heat.
Photos and video on social media show the entire vehicle immersed in flames at the edge of a highway, with huge plumes of black smoke rising above it. By the time the inferno was brought under control, little beyond a charred metal frame remained.
It is still not clear exactly how many people died during the devastating blaze in Thailand. But Piyalak Thinkaew, who led the Ruamkatanyu Foundation’s rescue team, said 23 people were missing – three teachers and 20 pupils. He added that they had not been able to identify most of the bodies recovered because they were so badly charred.
“Some of the bodies we rescued were very, very small. They must have been very young in age,” he told reporters, adding that it appeared that the fire began at the front of the bus. “The kids’ instinct was to escape to the back, so the bodies were there.”
At least three teachers and 16 pupils did escape the inferno, but many suffered serious burns around their faces, mouths and eyes, including a seven year-old who is at risk of going blind, doctors treating the survivors at Rangsit Hospital told reporters.
Rescuers said the fire erupted after a tyre burst and sent the bus careening into a roadside barrier. According to Suriyahe Juangroongruangki, Thailand’s transport minister, the vehicle had been powered by natural gas, which is highly flammable.
“This is a very tragic incident,” Mr Suriyahe said at the scene. “The ministry must find a measure… if possible, for passenger vehicles like this to be banned from using this type of fuel because it’s extremely risky.”
The bus was one of three travelling on a field trip from a primary and junior high school in Uthai Thani province, roughly 150 miles north of Bangkok.
“As a mother, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the injured and deceased,” Paetongtarn Shinawatra said, adding that the government would arrange medical expenses and provide compensation to those families who lost their loved ones.
The accident happened at around 12.30pm local time on a highway in a northern Bangkok suburb. A motorbike taxi driver, Meechai Sa-ard, said that he heard it from half a mile away.
“There was smoke everywhere. Poor children… I was hoping that god would be kind so that the rain could put the fire out and the kids would survive.”
Thailand has some of the world’s most dangerous roads, with around 20,000 people killed in accidents every year, according to the World Health Organization.
Both unsafe vehicles and poor driving contribute to the high death roll, which equates to more than 50 fatalities a day on average.
The post Twenty children feared dead in Thailand bus fire appeared first on The Telegraph.