By Agencies and published by CNA and Thai Rath
PRIME Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered an investigation into a fatal bus accident in the central province of Prachin Buri that claimed the lives of at least 19 people today (Feb 26), local news outlet Khaosod reported.
Latest report by Thai Rath newspaper said 30 people were injured in this accident.
The accident took place at around 3.20 a.m. local time in the Nadi district of Prachin Buri, according to the Prachin Buri Road Safety Centre.
Prachin Buri is located around a three-hour drive from Bangkok.
“If it is found that there is a violation of the use of vehicles that do not meet the standards or are involved in reckless use of vehicles, legal action will be taken,” Paetongtarn wrote on X.
Local media reported that the bus was carrying 47 passengers and two drivers from Bueng Kan province, located beside the Mekong River in Thailand’s northeast, on a “community study tour” to Rayong province in the eastern coast of Thailand.
The vehicle was reportedly one of three double-decker buses that were carrying local government officials.
Local media reported that the bus driver had lost control on a downhill section of the Khao San Pu Ton mountain before the bus plunged off the road, down a slope and overturned.
The group had departed from Bueng Kan province at around 5 p.m. the day before.
An earlier statement by the Prachin Buri Provincial Public Relations Office stated that 16 people died at the location of the accident while another died at the hospital.
The affected road is also being cleared to facilitate traffic while the cause of the accident is under investigation, according to the Prachin Buri Provincial Public Relations Office on Wednesday.
Nadi District Chief Somjai Putthasena has also confirmed that the bus involved in the accident was part of a study tour group from Phon Charoen Municipality in Bueng Kan province.
The 200 people were on a five-day Community Waste Bank Development Project study trip organised by Phon Charoen Municipality in Bueng Kan, reported Bangkok Post.
Khaosod also reported that the downhill slope at the Khao San Pu Ton mountain, where the accident occurred, is a frequent accident spot.
The driver had lost control of the vehicle after the brakes had failed, reported Khaosod.
The latest accident took place about four months after a fatal accident involving a school bus in suburban Bangkok.
In October last year, 23 people, mostly children, were killed after a school bus had caught fire.
The bus was carrying six teachers and 39 students in elementary and junior high school, travelling from Uthai Thani province, about 300km north of Bangkok for a school trip in Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces.
The fire started while the bus was on a highway north of the capital and spread so quickly that many were unable to escape.
Thai police have arrested the bus driver and charged him with reckless driving that caused deaths and injuries.
According to AFP, Thailand ranked ninth out of 175 World Health Organization member countries for road traffic deaths, as noted in its 2023 report.
CAPTIONS:
Top, first and second insert plus Front Page: Rescuers helping victims of the bus accident in Prachin Buri in the wee hours of this morning, Feb. 26, 2025. Photos: Thai Rath
Third insert: Some of the 40 rescue vehicles arranged to take the bodies of the 19 people who died in this bus accident back to their hometown. Photo: Thai Rath
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