5 People Killed In Tourist Bus Accident: Chonburi

[george]

5 people killed in tourist bus accident in Thailand

CHONBURI: -- Three Chinese and two Thais died when a bus full of tourists on Monday afternoon collided with a train in eastern Thailand.

The bus with 26 Chinese tourists aboard crashed into a train at4:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon when driving in the Sattahip District of the Province of Chonburi, which lies some 96 kilometers east of Bangkok.

Five passengers were killed immediately by the accident, a source from the Chinese Embassy to Thailand told Xinhua.

Among the deceased, there were three Chinese tourists and two Thais including a Thai tourist guide. The three Chinese tourists were two men and a women, whose identities were yet to be confirmed.

The accident also left 20 tourists injured, including two seriously wounded in very critical situation, said the Chinese embassy resource.

Millions of Chinese have headed abroad to celebrate the ten-dayvacation of Chinese New Year, which started from January 22. Many of them have chosen Thailand as a destination.

--Agencies 2004-02-02

[george]

Follow up:

6 killed after train ploughs into tour bus in Thailand

PATTAYA, Thailand : Six people, including five Korean tourists, were killed when their bus was hit by a train near the Thai beach resort of Pattaya on Monday.

According to local television reports, five people, including the driver, were killed instantly when the bus, carrying 25 Korean tourists, crashed through barriers onto a railway track and into the path of an approaching cargo train.

Another person died later in hospital, bringing the death toll to five men and one woman.

It is not yet confirmed what caused the crash in Sattahip - a town approximately 40 kilometres south of Pattaya, around 180 kilometres southeast of the capital Bangkok.

Thailand's government has run numerous campaigns to try to curb the country's road accident death toll - even offering free roadside massages to tired drivers.

According to official data, three people are killed in road accidents every hour in Thailand - one of the world's worst accident rates.

-- CNA 2004-02-03