Students, teachers die in bus inferno near Bangkok

After the blaze, investigation raises concerns about compressed natural gas used for public transportation.
By Nontarat Phaicharoen for BenarNews
2024.10.01
Bangkok
Students, teachers die in bus inferno near Bangkok Rescuers surround the charter bus on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, north of Bangkok, after over two dozen students and teachers were killed when it caught fire, Oct. 1, 2024.
Tananchai Keawsowattana-Thai News Pix/BenarNews

Preliminary investigations show that a blown tire or a collision with another vehicle could have sparked a fire that engulfed a charter bus and killed at least 25 people, mostly schoolchildren who were on a field trip near Bangkok on Tuesday, officials said.

Victims were trapped inside because the flames spread quickly after the fire ignited aboard the bus carrying 44 passengers – 38 students and six teachers – from the Wat Khao Phra Ya Sangkharam School in Uthai Thani province.

Many other victims suffered injuries in the horrific blaze that broke out as the bus traveled along the Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, a highway in a suburb north of Bangkok, authorities said, adding that the death toll could climb.

“Twenty-three people died at the scene, while two others succumbed to their injuries at Rangsit Medical Center,” acting National Police Chief Kittirat Phanphet told reporters. 

A blown tire could have contributed to the blaze by damaging the fuel tank and causing a spark, investigators said.

“Some bodies we rescued were very, very small,” said Piyalak Thinkaew, a rescue worker at the scene, according to a video report by Agence France-Presse (AFP). “They must have been in kindergarten or not beyond Year 2.”

“It must have been the kids’ instinct to escape to the back [where many bodies were found],” he said.

The fire started around 12:20 p.m. as the bus, the second in a convoy of three, was traveling to Nonthaburi province. Local media reported that the buses carrying the children, who ranged in age from kindergartners to young teens, were on their way to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand as part of their school’s field trip.

Anutin Charnvirakul, deputy prime minister and interior minister, visited the scene.

“We’re expediting the autopsy process to allow for religious ceremonies and the swift return of the deceased to their families. All injured are receiving full medical care,” he told reporters.

Chamnan Iamyim, a rescue worker from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, told reporters that the victims’ bodies would be transported to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital for autopsies. 

Kittirat said three victims had been hospitalized while 16 others were treated for injuries before being sent home, the Associated Press news service reported.

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A woman identified as a relative of a child who died in the bus fire covers the eyes of a child, also identified as a relative, as they walk past the wreckage in a northern Bangkok suburb, Oct. 1, 2024. [Manan Vatsyayana/AFP]

The police chief said the initial investigation focused on a potential tire blowout, while Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said a collision with another vehicle could have been the cause.

“Based on witness testimonies, we believe a tire explosion created sparks that ignited the gas tank in the vehicle, causing the fire to spread rapidly into the passenger compartment,” Kittirat said.

Driver reports to police

He said the bus driver went missing after the fire.

“We have instructed the Provincial Police Region 1 to conduct an investigation and apprehend the driver,” Kittirat said.

Hours later, the driver, who returned to his hometown in Sing Buri province, turned himself in to police at around 7 p.m. local time.

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Rescuers search inside the bus after a fire killed over two dozen students and teachers north of Bangkok, Oct. 1, 2024. [Tananchai Keawsowattana-Thai News Pix/BenarNews]

Suriya, who serves as transport minister, said preliminary findings indicated that the bus collided with another vehicle, lost control and struck a roadside barrier. 

“This collision likely caused sparks that ignited the fuel tank,” he said, raising concerns about the use of compressed natural gas for public transportation. The bus was powered by CNG.

“If CNG proves to be hazardous for this type of vehicle, we may need to consider banning its use. I will review the ministry’s authority on this matter,” he said. 

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Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra (center) speaks to a teacher at patRangsit Hospital in Pathum Thani, north of Bangkok, where she went to meet with and comfort survivors, Oct. 1, 2024. [Handout/Royal Thai Government/AFP]

In a post on X, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra wrote that she had dispatched Anutin and Suriya to the scene.

“As a mother, I extend my deepest sympathies to the families of those injured and deceased,” she said, adding “the government will cover all medical expenses and provide compensation to the families of the deceased.” 

In November 2023, the World Health Organization reported that traffic accidents in Thailand result in about 20,000 deaths and 1 million injuries each year. That number works out to over 50 fatalities per day.

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First responders inspect a burned-out bus that caught fire on the outskirts of Bangkok while carrying teachers and students from the Wat Khao Phraya school, Oct. 1, 2024. [Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters]

Meechai Sa-ard, a moto-taxi driver, was about 1 km (0.6 mile) from the site of Tuesday’s disaster.

“There was smoke everywhere. Poor children, I heard they were very little,” he told AFP.

“I was hoping that God would be kind so that the rain could put the fire out and the kids would survive.”

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
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