At Least 28 Passengers Killed When A Bus Was Caught On Fire

[Hurricane51]

BREAKING NEWS:

At least 28 passengers killed when a coach was caught on fire

NAKHORN RATCHASIMA: -- A packed Bangkok-bound coach was caught on fire on Tuesday in Nakhon Ratchasima province, burning to death at least 28 passengers.

The 40-seat bus left Yasothon at about 5am and its break system broke down as it approached Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district.

When the problem was fixed, it continued its ride. However the engine was caught on fire, when it went downhill.

The fire raged to passengers' compartment and burnt to death 28 passengers.

-- The Nation 2007-03-20

What, no typical report that "the driver fled the scene" ? What's Thailand coming to?

[99BigLad99]

I journey quite often on this four lane road and often pass a bus that crabs quite badly as it goes along obviously been in an accident before and

bent the chassis and remember the drivers know the roads because the buses always have the same drivers and it is always the same bus as

the routes are painted on the side of the bus. So what I am saying is that the upkeep of the buses is not a priority with anybody.

Condolences to the families

[travartz]

just got the email alert. it's now 11:40pm.

I was on a bus coming from Aranyaphrathet making a visa run and passed the burning bus on Rangsit at about 7:00pm. The smoke filled the sky for quite a ways and the bus tires were still clearly burning even as late as 7pm. It must have left Yasothorn at 5am and crashed at 3pm.

horrible. i hate to think it, but i really wonder if the breaks failed or if it was just more crazy driving and the bus company wants to shirk some blame. we've all been on these buses and know how crazy they are sometimes.

Edited March 20, 2007 by travartz

[charliechang]

Anyone know where to get a list of those killed hurt? I have a friend who was coming from Yasothon to BKK sometime this week and am a bit worried. Anyone seen a list of names of those involved?

[99BigLad99]

Unfortunately reading the thread I think it will be quite a time till there is a list made, names are not registered when buying a ticket so they will have to try and identify people from what is left a bad job

[moskito]

Hard to find the exit when knocked unconscious or already dead from the impact.

Why do people think the driver was cautious with known brake problems, think like a Thai driver.

THINK like a THAIdriver?? what the hel_l do you mean`? do they think at all? mostly there are busy doing

phonecalls while driving.......

....AND never be so stupid and try to take over a bus a concretemix truck or a big HINO without exhaust....they loose face and will try everything to take back the place in front of YOU

THAILAND NUMBER 1 in the world..... death ppl by traffik accidents......

[markokang]

I just got back from picking up all the bodies and taking them all to Sirirat Hospital.

There are exactly 29 dead and about 30 injured. Most died from fire causes.

The bodies will be worked on tonight and tomorrow and so names should be available from tomorrow. Most families have called in and have listed names of family or friends so it shouldn't be long to wait.

My condolences to all involved and their families/friends.

You can call information at Sirirat on 024197000

But dont expect them to speak English (Im really not sure sorry)

Marko Cunningham

Edited March 20, 2007 by markokang

[sriracha john]

Thai rescue workers carry bodies of victims killed in a fire on a bus in Muak Lek, 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Bangkok, March 20, 2007. A bus heading to Bangkok caught fire and overturned on a Thai highway, killing 29 people and injuring 35, most of them suffering severe burns, police said on Tuesday.

REUTERS

[Mai Krap]

Every time I entered one I carried my own glass breaker and was fully prepared to use it.

This sounds interesting, but where can you buy one?

Just get a small sized hammer and make sure the metal end is strongly secured to the wood or fiber handle. Anything can be used thats metal but the ones installed on the bus are plastic molded around a metal point like a small hammer. The most important thing is to be seated in the middle of the bus and be prepared to bust the window in a emergency. One of the reasons so many people die in these kinds of things is worrying about busting the glass if it is not the very last option. Another concern is that in the panic people will stack up in the exit and trap everyone inside. In my book its better to bust glass, get out, and worry about details when the fire is out and you are safe. Don't worry about what the driver thanks as in a emergency they will most likely do a runner anyway. In a past life I worked in aviation and we spent much time training about exiting a distressed plane safely.

This is truly a sad day and a horrible way to start Songkrom for these families. I will be shocked if they receive any kind of compensation or even acknowledgment of their loss.

[mcfester]

The question is did it catch fire and crash, or crash and catch fire?

[Mai Krap]

I just got back from picking up all the bodies and taking them all to Sirirat Hospital.

There are exactly 29 dead and about 30 injured. Most died from fire causes.

The bodies will be worked on tonight and tomorrow and so names should be available from tomorrow. Most families have called in and have listed names of family or friends so it shouldn't be long to wait.

My condolences to all involved and their families/friends.

You can call information at Sirirat on 024197000

But dont expect them to speak English (Im really not sure sorry)

Marko Cunningham

Marko, do you know or does anyone know if there were any westerners among the dead or injured? If you were there helping good for you, it is not a enviable job a very important one on this sad night.

[mcfester]

Every time I entered one I carried my own glass breaker and was fully prepared to use it.

This sounds interesting, but where can you buy one?

Just get a small sized hammer and make sure the metal end is strongly secured to the wood or fiber handle. Anything can be used thats metal but the ones installed on the bus are plastic molded around a metal point like a small hammer. The most important thing is to be seated in the middle of the bus and be prepared to bust the window in a emergency. One of the reasons so many people die in these kinds of things is worrying about busting the glass if it is not the very last option. Another concern is that in the panic people will stack up in the exit and trap everyone inside. In my book its better to bust glass, get out, and worry about details when the fire is out and you are safe. Don't worry about what the driver thanks as in a emergency they will most likely do a runner anyway. In a past life I worked in aviation and we spent much time training about exiting a distressed plane safely.

This is truly a sad day and a horrible way to start Songkrom for these families. I will be shocked if they receive any kind of compensation or even acknowledgment of their loss.

If you dont fancy the idea of walking around with a hammer in your bag a sparkplug or precision engineers punch will shatter any re-enforced glass with a click.

For a sparkplug slightly loosen the top nipple and hit the window with it.

A precision engineers punch can be bought at most markets or tool suppliers, size of a pen, its spring loaded, put the tip to the glass and press to activate the spring, ping, bye bye window.

In a few days or less this will be just another story for the authorities to forget about, how many times have u seen overturned buses and trucks? I used to drive from Petchabun to BKK maybe twice a week, and Petchabun to Samui maybe every other month, the mentality on the roads is just beyond belief, bus drivers are the worst, they build up their speed and once at 120kpm+ they'll do anything to keep this speed, including high beam flash lights full on about 1inch from the rear of your car, even when if I was to move over theres still 10 cars and trucks in front that he can't get past.

I blame it on the authorities, the driving test to obtain a license is a joke, even though its as simple as watching a video and driving around a carpark most fail and pay the centres to get the license. No mention of actual road driving to pass the test....just another fcuked up Thai system that'll never be sorted.

End of gripe.

[Jing-jo]

Every time I entered one I carried my own glass breaker and was fully prepared to use it.

This sounds interesting, but where can you buy one?

you could also use an automatic center punch little tube about 3 to 4" long press tip hard against anything and it will sort of fire the tip into it

breaking virtually any glass instantly especially good if no room to swing and hit glass as with hammer most tool stores sell them lot smaller and cheaper but there again some of the emergency escape tools also have seat belt cutting blade safely tucked away so it cuts belt but not fingers

condolonces to all affected by this tragedy

[Tony Clifton]

Every time I entered one I carried my own glass breaker and was fully prepared to use it.

This sounds interesting, but where can you buy one?

Just get a small sized hammer and make sure the metal end is strongly secured to the wood or fiber handle. Anything can be used thats metal but the ones installed on the bus are plastic molded around a metal point like a small hammer. The most important thing is to be seated in the middle of the bus and be prepared to bust the window in a emergency. One of the reasons so many people die in these kinds of things is worrying about busting the glass if it is not the very last option. Another concern is that in the panic people will stack up in the exit and trap everyone inside. In my book its better to bust glass, get out, and worry about details when the fire is out and you are safe. Don't worry about what the driver thanks as in a emergency they will most likely do a runner anyway. In a past life I worked in aviation and we spent much time training about exiting a distressed plane safely.

This is truly a sad day and a horrible way to start Songkrom for these families. I will be shocked if they receive any kind of compensation or even acknowledgment of their loss.

If you dont fancy the idea of walking around with a hammer in your bag a sparkplug or precision engineers punch will shatter any re-enforced glass with a click.

For a sparkplug slightly loosen the top nipple and hit the window with it.

A precision engineers punch can be bought at most markets or tool suppliers, size of a pen, its spring loaded, put the tip to the glass and press to activate the spring, ping, bye bye window.

In a few days or less this will be just another story for the authorities to forget about, how many times have u seen overturned buses and trucks? I used to drive from Petchabun to BKK maybe twice a week, and Petchabun to Samui maybe every other month, the mentality on the roads is just beyond belief, bus drivers are the worst, they build up their speed and once at 120kpm+ they'll do anything to keep this speed, including high beam flash lights full on about 1inch from the rear of your car, even when if I was to move over theres still 10 cars and trucks in front that he can't get past.

I blame it on the authorities, the driving test to obtain a license is a joke, even though its as simple as watching a video and driving around a carpark most fail and pay the centres to get the license. No mention of actual road driving to pass the test....just another fcuked up Thai system that'll never be sorted.

End of gripe.

I'm seriously questioning my stay here these days, if Unseen, Unforgettable, Unsafe Thailand is really worth risking my own life on a daily basis when stupids stunts are performed around you every time you're on the road, never takes more than 5 minutes to witness the first one of a series of totally careless and selfish driving stunts. There are more and more cars on the roads, more inexperienced drivers every day learning from what they witness as the "Me, me, me" law. I have almost killed and been killed how many times by now ... And no, it's not my driving.

Incompetence and stupidity from the authorities, there's just no excuse.

[Mai Krap]

Every time I entered one I carried my own glass breaker and was fully prepared to use it.

This sounds interesting, but where can you buy one?

Just get a small sized hammer and make sure the metal end is strongly secured to the wood or fiber handle. Anything can be used thats metal but the ones installed on the bus are plastic molded around a metal point like a small hammer. The most important thing is to be seated in the middle of the bus and be prepared to bust the window in a emergency. One of the reasons so many people die in these kinds of things is worrying about busting the glass if it is not the very last option. Another concern is that in the panic people will stack up in the exit and trap everyone inside. In my book its better to bust glass, get out, and worry about details when the fire is out and you are safe. Don't worry about what the driver thanks as in a emergency they will most likely do a runner anyway. In a past life I worked in aviation and we spent much time training about exiting a distressed plane safely.

This is truly a sad day and a horrible way to start Songkrom for these families. I will be shocked if they receive any kind of compensation or even acknowledgment of their loss.

If you dont fancy the idea of walking around with a hammer in your bag a sparkplug or precision engineers punch will shatter any re-enforced glass with a click.

For a sparkplug slightly loosen the top nipple and hit the window with it.

A precision engineers punch can be bought at most markets or tool suppliers, size of a pen, its spring loaded, put the tip to the glass and press to activate the spring, ping, bye bye window.

In a few days or less this will be just another story for the authorities to forget about, how many times have u seen overturned buses and trucks? I used to drive from Petchabun to BKK maybe twice a week, and Petchabun to Samui maybe every other month, the mentality on the roads is just beyond belief, bus drivers are the worst, they build up their speed and once at 120kpm+ they'll do anything to keep this speed, including high beam flash lights full on about 1inch from the rear of your car, even when if I was to move over theres still 10 cars and trucks in front that he can't get past.

I blame it on the authorities, the driving test to obtain a license is a joke, even though its as simple as watching a video and driving around a carpark most fail and pay the centres to get the license. No mention of actual road driving to pass the test....just another fcuked up Thai system that'll never be sorted.

End of gripe.

I'm seriously questioning my stay here these days, if Unseen, Unforgettable, Unsafe Thailand is really worth risking my own life on a daily basis when stupids stunts are performed around you every time you're on the road, never takes more than 5 minutes to witness the first one of a series of totally careless and selfish driving stunts. There are more and more cars on the roads, more inexperienced drivers every day learning from what they witness as the "Me, me, me" law. I have almost killed and been killed how many times by now ... And no, it's not my driving.

Incompetence and stupidity from the authorities, there's just no excuse.

Life is dangerous but in Thailand it is also cheep! I couldn't even begin to tell all the horrible road accident stories I have experienced and so many of them just totally avoidable with a little care. There is no such thing as defensive driving on Thai roads and the death holiday is soon to arrive. I will be making my annual retreat to my compound for the 7 days of Songkram as I cannot bear to see the results of another deadly mix of alcohol, ignorance, and death, no insult to the real Songkram but the modern interpretation is just more than I can handle anymore.

[Tony Clifton]

In my previous post, I mentioned "risking my own life", I also wanted to mention "having to live with the memory of having killed someone". A dear friend of mine refuses to drive here for these reasons, your number will eventually and inevitably come up.

[Lockstock]

I am a really bad flyer. Absolutely hate it. Tolerate it for work and getting to Thailand but absolutely sure that a plane is the way I will go in the end....however, given the choice of flying or taking a 6/10 seat minibuses or 'official' coach I fly internally whenever possible in Thailand.

Only in December, myself, my wife, my 15 year old daughter and 4 year old son were taking an overnight minibus ride from Sisaket to Chiang Mai. Twice during the night I had to insist that the driver stopped as I watched him fall asleep at the wheel and start leaving the road. I ended up with my eyes fixed on him all night waiting to just grab the wheel. With the night traffic of these over-tired idiots in their minibuses, coaches and huge lorries it is an enormously dangerous way to travel. I fly not for convenience but purely to keep my family safe.

Despite all the things I dislike about living here in the UK, road safety has got to be one of the few things that the gov. have got right.

[cdnvic]

For as fast as these things travel, I can't say there's been many times that I've seen one arrive early. That's pointing straight at the management of these companies. What kind of scheduling pressures are they putting on the drivers and service people?

[Greer]

This is indeed tragic news, and my heart goes out to the victims and the relatives; especially the children of those killed or injured; their lives have just changed forever, and no amount of "compensation" will restore the love of a lost parent, or replace a son, daughter, sister or brother so needlessly killed.

I know that the immediate reaction is to blame the driver, and I see many pointing the finger in general at "Thai drivers". This is grossly unfair, and unwarranted. Agreed of course that Thailand does appear to have a larger than normal percentage of incompetent drivers, especially, but not limited to, thos in charge of larger vehicles, but to label them all as the same is completely wrong. I have driven several times recently to Khon Kaen where my better halfs family live, and for the most part I noticed that most of the long distance truckies were quite courteous and drove safely. They generally stuck to safe speeds, and would pull to the left and indicate if it was safe to pass. I was actually so surprised by what I was seeing that I mentioned it to my fiance.

I am certainly not saying that all of the drivers are great and should not be blamed, but I do think the generalisations here on this thread are most unfortunate and not deserved by all.

It remains to be seen what the authorities find as the reasons for this awful crash and fire, but until they do, the blame game, as played on this forum, is not appropriate. Please, and this is aimed at all, show some respect for those who died, by not turning this into a circus.

Greer

Edited March 20, 2007 by Greer

[john b good]

Hard to find the exit when knocked unconscious or already dead from the impact.

Why do people think the driver was cautious with known brake problems, think like a Thai driver.

Maybe it's me BUT where in this thread does it say that there was any impact ???

It doesn't say that there was an accident resulting in a fire.

Great powers of deduction

[cdnvic]

Maybe it's me BUT where in this thread does it say that there was any impact ???

It doesn't say that there was an accident resulting in a fire.

Great powers of deduction

SARABURI: -- At least 28 people were killed and 14 seriously injured on Tuesday when a Bangkok-bound bus caught fire and careened down a hillside in Saraburi. The bus from Yasothorn caught fire on a major four lane highway in Saraburi.

After the fire broke out, the bus veered off the road and crashed down a hillside, police added.

Right there genius

Maybe improve your basic reading skills before making remarks about others' deductive powers that just wind up making you look silly.

[BAKABAS]

Sick in the guts am i. It's about time the Government hung these bus companies out to dry. Someone needs to be made an example of. Thailand lacks middle management. Who is going to do it? Stand up ! or do we wait for another tradgedy. This is close to me, especially that Pack Chong is my new home in Thailand. Sick in the guts i am. My condolinces to the the families.

[risky11]

well, I read all posts until now and noticed a couple things. first, everyone has a different experience - some with alot of horror stories on the road and others not so. second, the writer of the story in The Nation said "a coach was caught on fire." hmmm, you could properly say a coach caught fire or caught on fire, but not was caught on fire. Minor point, but grammar is important.

final point, and the reason i am posting, has to do with the widespread blame of the government. while it would great if the govt had the ability to be everywhere enforcing all it's laws, it just doesn't. Individual responsibility, like the fellow who carries a window breaker, is what is also needed IMO. if the thai people as a culture copy the irresponsible driving behavior of those around them, the government CANNOT stop them. there is a tipping point, beyond which, the lawless and bad overwhelm the law abiding and good. nonetheless, living defensively and calling for positive change is reasonable, so keep up the good work my TV friends. suksonguan songkran...hahaha

[sarpesius]

just watching channel 3 news , who are reporting a road accident involving a tour bus from yasothon to bangkok.

29 burnt and many injured.

anybody else hear anything ?

I doubt this would happen on one of the luxury busses going between chiang mai and mae sai.

Bus is the only public transportation on that route.

sarpesius

[albertvb]

Very very sad horible.... But when the gouvernement go do somethings about the mini buses in Bangkok REAL KILLERS they drive they "Van" same a Sportcar,drive from right do the left all the time Horible REAL KILLERS....

[pibill]

Just read this post, my condolences to their families and friends. I dread every time the wife and I have to catch a bus to areas not serviced by an airport. Sometimes I think the major cause of death in Thailand is road accidents; has anyone ever seen any stats on the most common causes of death. Wouldn't be surprised if traffic accidents were high on the list.

[kurgen]

Surely one of the easiest ways of slowing all these huge trucks and people carries down is to fit speed limiters to all the vehicles and hold the companies responsible if they are removed.

The next step would be tachographs (sp), which show exactly what the kamikazi pilots are up to.

Seems to work well in most other countries.

Condolences to all involved

[Artisan]

5am? Killed by fire, or asphyxiated by smoke while they slept?

Why do you think that this is important? It's of no relevance. These poor people died because of the fire.

See the topic title. At Least 28 Passengers Killed When A Bus Was Caught On Fire, NAKHORN RATCHASIMA (KORAT)

[Tarragona]

The driver was arrested but I feel it would be wrong to make him the scapegoat. He already knew there was a brake problem so he was wrong to go on. But let's face it - that's probably normal working conditions for a lot of these bus drivers, something that's not out of the ordinary. As someone has already pointed out, he would probably have lost his job if he'd refused to go on. And maybe the passengers wouldn't have thanked him at the time.

The only way this tragedy will lead to changes is if company executives do serious time. They should take responsibility for the maintenance of their vehicles and the conditions the drivers work under.

But I expect the company willl cough up 10,000 baht / victim, the driver will do heavy time and nothing will change.

[cdnvic]

5am? Killed by fire, or asphyxiated by smoke while they slept?

Why do you think that this is important? It's of no relevance. These poor people died because of the fire.

See the topic title. At Least 28 Passengers Killed When A Bus Was Caught On Fire, NAKHORN RATCHASIMA (KORAT)

It would help explain how that many people died when fire should not spread fast enough through a bus that the majority of people could escape from it. A flash fire from diesel is not common, so there had to be extenuating circumstances as to how that many succumbed to the flames. Did smoke or carbon monoxide contribute? If the occupants were asleep at the time they would have stayed unconscious and been unable to rouse themselves when the fire broke out. It could also explain why the bus crashed if the driver was also affected by by it.

The fire may or may not have caused the deaths of these people. Neither you, I, or anyone but a coroner can determine that. One thing for certain, there was more than one factor that led to these deaths, and I'm sorry if I'm breaking your unfailing faith in what gets reported by the Thai news, but I prefer to ask questions and not simply accept initial reports in the news.