Thailand: 20 children killed in CNG school bus fire

The bodies of 20 children and three teachers have been found after a bus carrying schoolchildren caught fire in Bangkok.

See: School bus catches fire in Thailand killing young students

The bus was carrying children aged between three and nine.

Videos from the scene showed flames engulfing the bus as it rolled under an overpass, with huge clouds of dense black smoke rising into the sky.

Sixteen children and three teachers managed to escape from the bus.

One of the teachers reported that the door of the burning bus could not be opened.

A tragic school trip

Firefighters battle the flames that engulfed the school bus with students and teachers on board on Phahon Yothin Road in Pathum Thani. Photo: Fire & Rescue Thailand Facebook account.

Three double-decker coaches transported students from Wat Khao Sangkharam School in Uthai Thani, from Ayutthaya Historical Park to the Electricity Generating Authority (EGAT) Learning Center in Nonthaburi province.

The students were on a day trip from their school and had to return at 8 p.m.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited the scene of the incident along with Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit.

Mr. Anutin revealed that 38 students and six teachers were on board the crashed bus.

Citing emergency services reports, Mr. Anutin said it is believed a tire burst, causing the bus to scrape against the metal guardrail, triggering sparks that came into contact with the fuel tank and started the fire.

He said 16 students and three teachers were rescued, some of them injured, and were rushed to hospital.

The school released a statement on Facebook, advising parents of students to contact them for information about their children.

The driver surrendered to police 100 km north of Bangkok, according to local media.

Footage taken shortly after the fatal crash shows the driver attempting to extinguish the fire, but he then allegedly fled the scene.

A bus powered by compressed natural gas (CNG)

First responders work inside the bus that was ravaged by fire on Tuesday in Pathum Thani. Photo: Reuters/Chalinee Thirasupa.

Transport Minister Suriyahe Juangroongruangkit said the bus was powered by "extremely risky" compressed natural gas.

"This is a very tragic incident," Mr. Suriyahe told reporters at the scene.

"The ministry must find a measure... if possible, so that passenger vehicles like this one are banned from using this type of fuel because it is extremely risky."

Bodies difficult to identify

Firefighters hose down the bus that caught fire while carrying teachers and students from a school in Uthai Thani on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters/Chalinee Thirasupa.

Piyalak Thinkaew, who led the search, said it was difficult to identify the bodies because they were so burned.

"Some of the bodies we found were very, very small," he told reporters at the scene, adding that the fire started in the front of the bus.

"The children's instincts drove them to take refuge in the back, which is why the bodies were there," he added.

The forensic science department said that of the 23 bodies found, eleven were male, seven female and five others were unidentifiable.

The investigation is ongoing

First responders prepare to carry bodies from the fire-ravaged bus in Pathum Thani on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters/Chalinee Thirasupa.

Thailand has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with unsafe vehicles and poor driving causing around 20,000 deaths a year.

Anutin Charnvirakul said an investigation was underway.

"We need to investigate driving traces from tire marks, burn marks and CCTV footage," he said.

A 54-year-old bus

The Department of Land Transport has just revealed that this Isuzu bus was registered on February 19, 1970.

It was specified as a non-regular passenger vehicle with 41 seats and a total weight of 16,600 kg.

In 2018, the department was informed that the bus had been modified with a Benz engine installed.

The last tax was paid in May of this year.

Source: BBC , Bangkok Post , Thai PBS News