Children among five killed after fire engulfs bus in Khon Kaen

[webfact]

Picture: Sanook

 

Five people have been killed, including two children and twelve others injured, after a bus caught fire in Khon Kaen on  Tuesday.

 

The bus which had 34 passengers on board, was travelling through Ban Haet district when a rire tire burst and caught fire.

 

The fire quickly engulfed  the rest  of the bus and while 16 passengers were able to escape, 5 people were killed, including 2 children and 12 others were seriously injured. 

 

It took rescue workers 30 minutes to bring the blaze under control.

 

Photos shared by Sanook News showed the double decker bus had suffered extensive damage.

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-04-13

 

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[Tropicalevo]

Very sad.  RIP

[lemonjelly]

Shows how deadly not using fire resistant foam in the bus furniture is

[robblok]

1 minute ago, lemonjelly said:

Shows how deadly not using fire resistant foam in the bus furniture is

Not to mention how important it is to check tires and replace them on time. Maintenance is always a thing in Thailand.

[xylophone]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Not to mention how important it is to check tires and replace them on time. Maintenance is always a thing in Thailand.

Maintenance is an overlooked priority here and I've seen some "public transport" vehicles which have no right to be on the road, let alone carrying passengers.

 

So sad that people were killed from something which was probably easily preventable.
 

[ezzra]

Thees kind if road fatalities are everyday occurrences in this country from the time i have first arrived here 30+ years ago, nothing has changed since than and by the look of it nothing will either... some will say that is the price a big country with a big population pays to continue to function everyday, but go tell that the those who lost love once to a road fatality...

[robblok]

9 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Maintenance is an overlooked priority here and I've seen some "public transport" vehicles which have no right to be on the road, let alone carrying passengers.

 

So sad that people were killed from something which was probably easily preventable.
 

What is even worse is that there is no government organization that checks the public transport. But its just not Thai to hurt companies in their bottom line. Safety last id say. 

 

I am quite pro Thai but this is one of the things that worries me. Good thing that planes are under better maintenance and that there are international rules. 

[RichardColeman]

If that bus has little or no maintenance records, I vote the owner and managers of the company go to prison for life. (though I would not be surprised to see the maintenance records being hastily 'prepared')

[webfact]

Five people die in tour bus blaze in Khon Kaen province

 

Photo from มูลนิธิสว่างขอนแก่นสามัคคีอุทิศ https://www.facebook.com/rescuepoysiankk/

 

Five passengers, including two children, were killed and several others were injured when a double-decker tour bus, in which they were travelling, caught fire on the Friendship Highway in Ban Haed district of Thailand’s northeastern province of Khon Kaen on Monday night.

 

Initial reports indicate that journey of the bus, operated by 407 Pattana Company, originated in Udon Thani, with a stopover in Muang district of Khon Kaen. As it was leaving Muang district on the Friendship Highway, heading to Ban Haed district, one of its tires ruptured, followed by a shower of sparks.

 

The bus caught fire. The blaze rapidly engulfed the entire vehicle, trapping five passengers inside, including three adults and two children, while other passengers managed to escape, some suffering burns.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/five-people-die-in-tour-bus-blaze-in-khon-kaen-province/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-04-13

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

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[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The fire quickly engulfed  the rest  of the bus and while 16 passengers were able to escape, 5 people were killed, including 2 children and 12 others were seriously injured. 

5 dead, 12 seriously injured means half of them couldn't get off the bus in a timely manner...

The question is how long did the driver take to stop before the fire reached such a level it was almost too late to do anything?

[Russell17au]

This is one of the problems with the high deck coaches, that is the emergency exit if there is a fire around the engine bay. Coach companies that use just the single low deck coaches are much safer with this type of incident. As for the flame resistant foam that is used in these coaches it is not reliable as it was proven in Australia years ago and it is not just the seating but also the fibreglass bodies and the paint are very flammable. I would challenge anyone to pick a faulty tyre just by looking at it. I bought and had fitted a brand new tyre on my pick up and I drove just over 250 kilometres and that tyre blew out after its tread lifted. That was a brand new tyre. There are many vehicles on the roads all over the world (not just Thailand) that suffer tyre failure and blowouts and some of them result in fatalities, these vehicles include cars, small trucks, large trucks and many different types of buses. This coach has its engine at the rear and looking at the photos the fuel tank would also be at the rear as it looks like directly behind the driver there are more seats so the fuel tank would not be in the usual place which is just behind the front wheels. One thing that is common in Thailand that is not allowed in western countries is the travelling with the rear engine compartment door open.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Russell17au

[Russell17au]

5 hours ago, robblok said:

What is even worse is that there is no government organization that checks the public transport. But its just not Thai to hurt companies in their bottom line. Safety last id say. 

 

I am quite pro Thai but this is one of the things that worries me. Good thing that planes are under better maintenance and that there are international rules. 

Good thing that aircraft do not suffer from tyre failures or hydraulic failures, or any other mechanical failures like engine blow ups or engine fires or even brake failures.

[Golden Triangle]

There was a video about this on one of groups I'm a member of, I stopped watching when they started bringing out blackened body parts.

[connda]

God that's tragic.  RIP little ones.

[connda]

7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

If that bus has little or no maintenance records, I vote the owner and managers of the company go to prison for life. (though I would not be surprised to see the maintenance records being hastily 'prepared')

The other issue is that their is no one regulating these companies vehicles.
I took a picture once of a Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai bus stopped at a stop light.  The picture I took as of it's entirely bald tires.  How's that happen?  Companies will cut corners as bus tires aren't cheap.  So, who regulates these companies?  It seems no one.  If the government regulated the transport companies then you'd never see bald tires on a bus.  Can you imagine in the rain navigating the mountain curve between CM and CR?  Then it's no wonder why the buses come off the roads, or in this case, have a blow-out and catch fire.  
Allowing that lack of maintenance is criminal.  What will happen?  The equivalent of $3000 to each dead persons family and a brown envelop to the "right people."
Let me say it again - it's criminal. 

Edited April 13, 2021 by connda

[Russell17au]

7 minutes ago, connda said:

The other issue is that their is no one regulating these companies vehicles.
I took a picture once of a Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai bus stopped at a stop light.  The picture I took as of it's entirely bald tires.  How's that happen?  Companies will cut corners as bus tires aren't cheap.  So, who regulates these companies?  It seems no one.  If the government regulated the transport companies then you'd never see bald tires on a bus.  Can you imagine in the rain navigating the mountain curve between CM and CR?  Then it's no wonder why the buses come off the roads, or in this case, have a blow-out and catch fire.  
Allowing that lack of maintenance is criminal.  What will happen?  The equivalent of $3000 to each dead persons family and a brown envelop to the "right people."
Let me say it again - it's criminal. 

Forget just saying the buses. There is no government regulations on ANY vehicle in Thailand. The amount of unroadworthy vehicles (cars, pickups, small trucks, large trucks, buses and motor bikes) on the Thai roads is unreal and you see the police ride straight past them and do nothing about it. Nobody cares.

[Bangkokazy]

What have we learned from the bus fire?
Next time we take trains home

[Golden Triangle]

6 minutes ago, Bangkokazy said:

What have we learned from the bus fire?
Next time we take trains home

Trouble is they have a tendency to go off the rails, a bit like me sometimes ???????? ????

[Bangkokazy]

11 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

Trouble is they have a tendency to go off the rails, a bit like me sometimes ????????????

Trains in Thailand have a maximum speed of 45 km per hour
so and be killed train accident is very small

[Golden Triangle]

1 minute ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Yes, a  bus can catch fire in a western country. The difference is that there are usually no fatalities because the western vehicles  are built to a higher quality standard than the Chinese vehicles popular in Thailand and the   western bus drivers must undergo safety training. The training, even if basic, is the difference between life and death.

Don't forget the regular maintenance as well ???????????????? Western governments would have a dicky fit if they saw the shoddy practices employed here. ????

[Golden Triangle]

5 minutes ago, Bangkokazy said:

Trains in Thailand have a maximum speed of 45 km per hour
so and be killed train accident is very small

Can't wait for the high speed trains then, that should liven life up a tad ????

 

I was being slightly sarcastic by the way ????

Edited April 13, 2021 by Golden Triangle

[Bangkokazy]

9 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Yes, a  bus can catch fire in a western country. The difference is that there are usually no fatalities because the western vehicles  are built to a higher quality standard than the Chinese vehicles popular in Thailand and the   western bus drivers must undergo safety training. The training, even if basic, is the difference between life and death.

Has nothing to do with where the buses come from

All professional drivers in Thailand are full of Nazispeed, because the salary is so poor and the working day so long. therefore the country road is so fxxk up

[Russell17au]

19 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Yes, a  bus can catch fire in a western country. The difference is that there are usually no fatalities because the western vehicles  are built to a higher quality standard than the Chinese vehicles popular in Thailand and the   western bus drivers must undergo safety training. The training, even if basic, is the difference between life and death.

There are no Chinese built buses in Thailand. All the bus and coaches are built in Thailand on either import engine-chassis assemblies from Europe (Volvo, Scania) or on Thai built engine-chassis assemblies (Hino, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz) There is no Chinese built buses imported into Thailand because the import taxes are too high 

[Natai Beach]

1 minute ago, Russell17au said:

There are no Chinese built buses in Thailand. All the bus and coaches are built in Thailand on either import engine-chassis assemblies from Europe (Volvo, Scania) or on Thai built engine-chassis assemblies (Hino, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz) There is no Chinese built buses imported into Thailand because the import taxes are too high 

Don’t let facts get in the way of someone having a good Chinese bash, which only comes second to Thai bashing. 

The problem is some people read the fake, completely made up stories that people post here, they believe it a go around telling other people as if it is a fact. 
 

Two kids are dead, but look at the comment above yours.

[Russell17au]

13 minutes ago, Natai Beach said:

Don’t let facts get in the way of someone having a good Chinese bash, which only comes second to Thai bashing. 

The problem is some people read the fake, completely made up stories that people post here, they believe it a go around telling other people as if it is a fact. 
 

Two kids are dead, but look at the comment above yours.

No, there are five humans dead, we don't even know if any of the adults were related to the children. This coach has the exit door just in front of the rear wheels and the stairs lead towards the back of the bus and the fuel supply and the motor are behind that exit door and stairs and it is typical human nature that in an emergency situation they panic and would fight each other to get down those stairs first and get out of that coach. No one knows where these poor soles were seated and if they were seated directly above the engine then because of typical human nature and the panic there was no chance for them to escape that fire. I have been told that this coach was not powered by diesel but by gas instead much like many of the large trucks here with those white gas tanks behind the cabs which would explain why the fire started so easy when the tyre burst it could have broken the gas line and the sparks ignited the gas.

[NanLaew]

23 hours ago, robblok said:

What is even worse is that there is no government organization that checks the public transport.

There is. But they don't.

[welshissan]

12 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

Don’t let facts get in the way of someone having a good Chinese bash, which only comes second to Thai bashing. 

The problem is some people read the fake, completely made up stories that people post here, they believe it a go around telling other people as if it is a fact. 
 

Two kids are dead, but look at the comment above yours.

What about the Chinese made buses sitting on the docks in Bangkok, imported from Malaysia?

[NanLaew]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

Five people die in tour bus blaze in Khon Kaen province

 

Photo from มูลนิธิสว่างขอนแก่นสามัคคีอุทิศ https://www.facebook.com/rescuepoysiankk/

 

Five passengers, including two children, were killed and several others were injured when a double-decker tour bus, in which they were travelling, caught fire on the Friendship Highway in Ban Haed district of Thailand’s northeastern province of Khon Kaen on Monday night.

 

Initial reports indicate that journey of the bus, operated by 407 Pattana Company, originated in Udon Thani, with a stopover in Muang district of Khon Kaen. As it was leaving Muang district on the Friendship Highway, heading to Ban Haed district, one of its tires ruptured, followed by a shower of sparks.

 

The bus caught fire. The blaze rapidly engulfed the entire vehicle, trapping five passengers inside, including three adults and two children, while other passengers managed to escape, some suffering burns.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/five-people-die-in-tour-bus-blaze-in-khon-kaen-province/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-04-13

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

 

Here's your lottery numbers...

 

[VocalNeal]

2 minutes ago, welshissan said:

What about the Chinese made buses sitting on the docks in Bangkok, imported from Malaysia?

 

Are they buses or coaches?

[NanLaew]

14 hours ago, Russell17au said:

There is no government regulations on ANY vehicle in Thailand.

Yes there are. Their enforcement can be lacking.