School Bus Fire Claims Multiple Lives and Injures Young Students in Rangsit

[Classic Ray]

My 12 year old son is currently on a similar trip outside Bangkok, luckily not this coach. 
 

we are urgently attempting to discover whether any of the coaches carrying him and his fellow pupils are LPG powered.

 

I think this fuel should be banned for coaches, diesel is much safer and less flammable. Quality of installation is also often a problem here, and with the tyre burst, maintenance may also be in question.

[WDSmart]

What in the world, or at least in Thailand, could have caused this????!!!! 😮

[SbuxPlease]

Oh my. What a tragic and horrifying event that almost certainly could have been prevented somehow.

[Lorry]

Just now, ronster said:

 

Never seen a country with so many bus accidents every month . I refuse to let my wife travel on them .

 

India and South Africa are supposedly even worse. 

[Gobbler]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

100% agree - no ‘public use’ vehicle should erupt into flames so quickly.

 

Front left blew out - what was the condition of the other tyres ? (Possible to tell or were they melted) 

It's probably showing threads with no tread. 

[DGS1244]

Looks like an NGV conversion not LPG. Storing cylinders like that is not the way to do it.. There are way to many accidents in Thailand of single story buses converted to two stories. Doesn't work.

[twizzian]

When you have kids that age it brings a tear your eyes reading the story, seeing images of that bus. They are at an age where no survival instincts have developed.

The intense pain endured during that fire and by the parents of the lost. OMG

[shackleton]

I have seen the buses in Thailand travelling in convoy and travelling at great speed

Having a tyre blow out then hitting the barrier then exploding into fire 🔥 

My sympathy to all concerned 

Health and safety needs to be more strictly enforced by the authorities here in Thailand 🇹🇭 

[Georgealbert]

UPDATE
School  Janitor Recounts Tragic Moments of School Bus Fire

 

 

A janitor from Wat Khao Phraya Sangkaram School in Uthai Thani, who was on the third bus, shared the harrowing details of the accident involving the second bus, where a yire blowout led to a collision and deadly fire. The driver of the bus remains missing as rescue efforts continue.

According to Preecha Muangchan, a 50-year-old school janitor, three buses were part of the trip, and he was riding on the third bus. He described seeing the second bus suffer a left-front tyre blowout, causing it to lose control and sideswipe a black Mercedes-Benz E200 before crashing into a road barrier. The driver quickly stopped and attempted to check the situation, but the fire erupted rapidly.

The bus involved in the accident had 44 passengers, including students ranging from kindergarten to ninth grade. Initial reports indicate that 19 people—three teachers and 16 students—managed to escape the burning bus. Six of those rescued sustained injuries and were transported to a hospital, while others remain missing. The bus driver has yet to be found.

 

Military personnel have also been deployed to manage traffic, and camouflage nets have been placed around the bus to shield the scene from public view as forensic officers are on the bus conducting investigations and gathering evidence to determine the cause of the incident.

At the Royal Thai Police headquarters, Pol. Lt. Gen. Prachuap Wongsuk, Assistant Commissioner-General and Acting Deputy Commissioner-General, provided updates on the tragic bus fire that claimed numerous lives.

 

Pol. Lt. Gen. Prachuap stated that police are reviewing CCTV footage along the route taken by the three-bus convoy to identify whether the bus in question was involved in a collision or other incident prior to the fire. Given the gas leak on the bus, further investigation with the Department of Land Transport is underway to confirm if the gas system was installed or modified after purchase and whether it met safety standards. The bus operator will also be held accountable once identified, though no conclusions have been reached as of yet.

 

The forensic medical team from the Police General Hospital will collaborate with the forensic unit at Thammasat University Hospital, located near the accident site, to assist with victim identification.

 

Pol. Lt. Gen. Prachuap urged bus operators to ensure their vehicles meet the necessary safety standards before offering services to the public to prevent further tragedies in the future.
 

-- 2024-10-01

 

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

OMG' anyone with school kids going on trips must be very nervous I know I Am' my 10 year old is supposed to be going on one Thursday I was already before this, starting to feel uneasy.

 

This countries appalling school safety laid burning bare in a few photos sickening kids failed by adults Rip.🤔  

 

My Thai son has some flexibility in his working days / hours, so when a field trip is announced he gets full details and follows the bus in his own car with whichever of his kids are on the trip.

 

He's very careful to never be accused of interfering in any way. If it's overnight he takes a room at the resort or hotel, books early so he can get the room next to were the 'mob' of kids will sleep.

 

He secretly sets up several small cameras so he can monitor the next room (where the kids are sleeping) all night. 

 

Why? Because his cousin lost a small son in a bus fire, and as already mentioned lots of comments about new regulations etc., but nothing ever happened.

 

The school involved claimed they had insurance but after many discussions nothing happened and the school insisted they could not allow anybody to see the insurance policy / receipts. Police refused to get involved in any way.

 

[Stuart dunsmore]

1 hour ago, edwinchester said:

Busses should not burn that quickly trapping so many inside. If this bus is one of those fitted with a cheap gas conversion somebody has blood on their hands.

100% correct. With tears in my eyes how can this happen? Does it take such a tragic incident like this for the Thai government to wake up? Sadly this will not change the way things are here. If what I see in the picture are gas canisters, then surly someone has to be answerable. 
So so sad, WAKE THE <deleted> UP THAILAND. 

[soalbundy]

38 minutes ago, steven100 said:

oh dear Georgealbert,  this story is just too distressing for me to comment.  

couldn't open the doors! What a nightmare, those poor kids.

[ade591]

Heartbreaking 😢

[Muhendis]

42 minutes ago, mr_lob said:

Normal people suffer through lax enforcement

Please, anyone who even thinks about nanny state control, go bury yourself.

Enforcement of safety rules is totally the most necessary thing needed to prevent so much loss of innocent life.

[n8sail]

39 minutes ago, ukrules said:

 

I think they know very well how to make this kind of vehicle, it's not the manufacturer.

 

 

I could be wrong, but I'd say very unlikely this bus is actually a Benz.  I just quickly looked at photos of at least recent ones, and none of them have a front grill or lights that look like this.

I say this because one of the two busses that come to where I work everyday to drop off and pick up laborers is a "Mercedes Benz".    Yeah, right.   It's a Chinese bus, with the badges changed.  Modified and repainted about 3 times in the 11 years I've been here.

Maybe I'm wrong, though, have been before.

RIP, what a disaster.  😢☹️😓

[Tarteso]

9 minutes ago, Georgealbert said:

The bus driver has yet to be found.

Classic 🤨

 

 

RIP 🙏

[Tarteso]

2 minutes ago, n8sail said:

It's a Chinese bus, with the badges changed. 

It’’s not a surprise..

[gravia]

I cried reading about this tragic accident, why was the bus in the fast lane,and how did it burn so rapidly. So many fatal bus accidents in the 20 years I have lived here. Some drive so fast ,no thought given to what can happen.  My heart goes out to all famillies  who have lost their children on a school trip also the teachers,

I have a young son and he will not be going on any school trips on buses

also  will never have a motorbike

[parallelman]

Very tragic. Sincere condolences to the families. If the driver did flee the scene there are lots of questions there. Such as did he flee the scene before trying to help those inside or after when he realised they were trapped?

[kevozman1]

Horrific. The buses are indeed a problem from the fuel they often use to the Thai made cut and shut double decker buses that are always extremely colourful, but also extremely dangerous in an accident. I know diesel is nasty polluting stuff, but it isn't anywhere near as dangerous as what this scene is showing.

[Sig]

Many here express the idea that even though such a tragedy, nothing will change. I beg to differ. I believe that in order to get away with the same kind of nonsense, the thickness of brown envelopes may need to change.

[anchadian]

Those that survived shouldn't have to go through this:

 

https://x.com/KhaosodEnglish/status/1841037849149489177

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit visit students who survived the deadly bus fire, which killed more than twenty people on Tuesday afternoon at a temporary shelter. #Thailand #ไฟไหม้รถบัส

 

[Gobbler]

This isn't a one-off. Parents should go with their children before letting them board the school van or bus. Check the tires. I did for my then 9-year-old. 

 

All four tires were bald. It was a Christian school, so I told the director to act like a Christian and make the van owner get new tires. They did. 

 

They did it reluctantly, but they did it.  It was the middle of rainy season too. 

 

[josephbloggs]

29 minutes ago, n8sail said:

I could be wrong, but I'd say very unlikely this bus is actually a Benz.  I just quickly looked at photos of at least recent ones, and none of them have a front grill or lights that look like this.

I say this because one of the two busses that come to where I work everyday to drop off and pick up laborers is a "Mercedes Benz".    Yeah, right.   It's a Chinese bus, with the badges changed.  Modified and repainted about 3 times in the 11 years I've been here.

Maybe I'm wrong, though, have been before.

RIP, what a disaster.  😢☹️😓

Maybe yes, maybe no. Mercedes, Volvo etc sell naked bus chassis and then you build what you like on top. I think this is what most os these busses are in Thailand, the original Mercedes platform with poorly constructed bodies with little to no safety standards or safe materials. It is a tragedy. The horror these kids went through in their last moments in unthinkable.

Just because it doesn't "look" like a Mercedes it doesn't mean it isn't underneath. And then of course you have the shoddy CNG / LPG conversions.

https://www.mercedes-benz-bus.com/en_ID/models/of.html

 

RIP kids, you poor poor souls.

[josephbloggs]

8 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Those that survived shouldn't have to go through this:

 

https://x.com/KhaosodEnglish/status/1841037849149489177

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit visit students who survived the deadly bus fire, which killed more than twenty people on Tuesday afternoon at a temporary shelter. #Thailand #ไฟไหม้รถบัส

 

 

This is genuinely sickening if it is true. How absolutely shameful.

[riclag]

1 hour ago, kwilco said:

Probably need to look at the construction of these buses.

That and safety devices , like multiple 

Fire Extinguishers 

[Keeps]

6 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Those that survived shouldn't have to go through this:

 

https://x.com/KhaosodEnglish/status/1841037849149489177

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit visit students who survived the deadly bus fire, which killed more than twenty people on Tuesday afternoon at a temporary shelter. #Thailand #ไฟไหม้รถบัส

 

I am astounded by this. How sickening. A photo opportunity and smiles all round in front of distressed, bewildered children. They should be ashamed of themselves.

 

 

[snoop1130]

Tragedy Strikes Uthai Thani: School Trip Ends in Fatal Coach Fire

 

 

In a heart-wrenching incident today, 22 schoolchildren and three teachers from Wat Khao Sangkharam School in Uthai Thani were killed when their coach caught fire on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road. Sixteen children and three other teachers managed to escape, though some sustained injuries, according to Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

 

The tragic incident unfolded while the students, aged between three and nine, were on a one-day educational trip. They had visited the Ayutthaya Historical Park and were en route to the Electricity Generating Authority learning centre in Nonthaburi. The schoolchildren and their teachers were expected back by 8pm.

 

Minister Anutin, along with Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit, rushed to the scene to oversee emergency operations and offer support to the survivors. Initial reports suggest the fire started after a tyre burst, causing the coach to scrape against the metal crash barrier, which ignited sparks that set aflame the gas tank.

 

 

 

 

Anutin confirmed there were 38 students and six teachers on the ill-fated coach. The rescue efforts saw sixteen students and three teachers brought to safety and quickly transported to the hospital for treatment.

 

Transport Minister Suriya announced an immediate review of the safety of CNG fuel, which was used in the burned coach, to determine its future suitability for vehicles.

 

Meanwhile, the school has issued a statement on Facebook, urging parents to reach out for updates concerning their children. The nation mourns alongside the families as they grapple with this devastating loss.

 

Photo: Thai PBS World

 

-- 2024-10-01

 

[Will B Good]

I feel sick.

[Mason45]

11 minutes ago, parallelman said:

Very tragic. Sincere condolences to the families. If the driver did flee the scene there are lots of questions there. Such as did he flee the scene before trying to help those inside or after when he realised they were trapped?

Twenty four years ago when I first met my wife to be we used to go on bus trips up the country to many different cities. After several incidents while on buses I chose to buy a car. I felt sooner or later our luck was going to run out. It so sad for the the people on the bus to lose their lives especially the kids. My thoughts are with them. May they RIP.