Tour bus crashes in Phuket, 10 hurt

[webfact]

BREAKING: Tour bus crashes in Phuket, 10 hurt
Eakkapop Thongtub



PHUKET: -- A tour bus has crashed in the Kamala area, near the Thavorn Beach Village, injuring at least 10 – four seriously – among the 37 Russian tourists aboard the bus.

The Anex Tour bus, being driven by Aroon Yemgeua, 46, was heading from Patong towards Kamala when it flipped, rolled off the road and down a hill, landing upside down in an entranceway below.

Rescue teams are on the scene. At least one other vehicle, a pick-up truck, was involved.

It is not clear at the moment how the accident happened. First reports indicate that the bus was on it way from Patong towards Kamala when it was hit by an overtaking pick-up truck coming in the opposite direction.

More details when we have them.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/breaking-tour-bus-crashes-in-phuket-10-hurt-50349.php


-- Phuket News 2014-12-30

[hansgruber]

Obviously speeding down that big hill towards the checkpoint. Everyone speeds down that unfortunately.

[Shot]

[zaphod reborn]

I don't think the tour bus/shuttle van carnage in Phuket will ever end. The only hope would be improvement of the roadways, and that almost never happens in Thailand. Do any highway maintenance teams compile accident reports to determine where guardrails should be installed? A relatively cheap fix, as long as the guardrails and placement are to AASHTO codes.

Edited December 30, 2014 by zaphod reborn

[webfact]

Tour bus crash in Phuket injures 10 Russian tourists

PHUKET: -- A tour bus carrying about 40 Russian tourists crashed in the Kamala area, near the Thavorn beach village on the way to Patong beach, injuring at least 10, four seriously.

Phuket police said the incident happened at about 9.00 am.

The police said the Anex Tour bus was heading from Patong towards Kamala when it flipped, rolled off the road and down a hill, landing upside down in an entranceway below.

The bus was driven by Aroon Yemgeua, 46.

Immediately alerted by passing motorists and residents in the area, rescue teams were sent to the area.

Police said at least one vehicle, a Ford saloon, was also involved.

It is not clear at the moment how the accident happened.

First reports indicated that the bus was on it way from Patong towards Kamala when it was hit by an overtaking car coming in the opposite direction.

Despite the car being massively damaged, its driver Aroon was reportedly not injured.

Of the 40 passengers, 10 were injured, four were serious. They were admitted to Phuket hospital.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/tour-bus-crash-phuket-injures-10-russian-tourists


-- Thai PBS 2014-12-30

[webfact]

Update on Phuket tour bus crash

PHUKET: -- At least 19 Russian tourists were injured as a tourist bus flipped over onto its roof in a crash on the hilly coast road between Kamala and Patong beaches on Tuesday morning.

The accident came as the Seven Days of Danger road safety campaign began on Phuket and throughout Thailand at midnight on Monday.

The bus was carrying arriving Russian tourists from Phuket International Airport to their holiday accommodation, Phuket police said.

Early reports of 10 people being injured were boosted to about 20 soon after.

A spokesperson at Patong Hospital emergency, where the injured were being taken, said several people appeared to have been seriously injured.

Some were immediately transferred to Vachira Phuket hospital in Phuket City hospital.

First reports said the bus and a car collided on the main road, flipping the Patong-bound bus over into an entranceway near the Kamala Falls estate.

The saloon car was also shunted off the roadway.

Passengers who walked away searched anxiously inside the upside down bus for signs that travelling companions were still alive.

At least two were initially trapped inside.

Rescue worker said the crash came at 7.34 am near the Kamala police booth as they attempted to free the trapped passengers from the Anex tour bus.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/update-phuket-tour-bus-crash


-- Thai PBS 2014-12-30

[webfact]

UPDATE:

BREAKING: Tour bus crashes in Phuket, 29 hurt



PHUKET: -- A tour bus has crashed in the Kamala area, near the Thavorn Beach Village, injuring 28 among the 42 people aboard the bus, mostly Russian tourists, along with a car driver.

The bus, owned by Nichanon Co and chartered to Anex Tour, was being driven by Aroon Yemgeua, 46. It was heading from Kamala towards Patong when it flipped, rolled off the road and down a hill, landing upside down in an entranceway below.

The crash happened when the bus, on its way from Kamala towards Patong, was hit by an overtaking Ford Fiesta car coming in the opposite direction. In an unsuccessful bid to avoid the collision, Mr Aroon swerved off the road.

The bus then rolled down a steep bank about 50 metres from the road, ending upside down in the entranceway.

The driver of the car, Tantima Thaworn, 37, suffered severe abdominal injuries, and after initial treatment at Patong Hospital, she was transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital.

The names of the 28 injured in the bus were given by the Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation as follows:

Nitaya Yodsawat, 24,
Lidia Naumova, 25,
Daniela Raschetnova, 25,
Evgeniya Priadina/Poriadina, 24,
Vladislav Kolyadyuk, 10,
Armen Kirukcsyan, 22,
Vladimir Popov, 40,
Svetlana Koporzova, 32,
Akob Khachatrian, 31,
Victor Olyunin, 62,
Natalia Savina, 28,
Alexei Esaulov, 43
Elena Esaulova, 42,
Nadia Polyakova, 64,
Evgenia Kolesnikova, 37,
Grigorii Chetii, 33,
Dmitrii Sharagulov, 39,
Marina Sharagulova, 32,
Julia Temirkhanova, 39,
Arsalan Sharagulov, 15,
Irina Sharagulova, 9,
Polina Sharagulova, 2,
Marina Korablova, 43,
Radik Murtazov, 34,
Liubov Murtazova, 31,
Diana Murtazova, 2,
Liliya Murtazova, and
Ivan Lazarenko, 23.

By the afternoon, all but the two Thai women had been treated and discharged from hospital.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/breaking-tour-bus-crashes-in-phuket-29-hurt-50349.php


-- Phuket News 2014-12-30

[SOTIRIOS]

...again...???

...was yesterday 1 bus and 2 vans....I lost count......

[Suffinator]

More bad publicity for the Thai tourism industry ... wonder how TAT will spin this one.

There's no way I'd ever travel in one of these death traps. Mind you the same could be said for the taxis and minivans as well.

[Carrerakiss]

It happens to me sometimes. People park and block the driveway. Mind you, they are usually outside the gate and their vehicle is not on its roof.

[kotsak]

More bad publicity for the Thai tourism industry ... wonder how TAT will spin this one.

There's no way I'd ever travel in one of these death traps. Mind you the same could be said for the taxis and minivans as well.

"We may not have roller coasters but we have roads and drivers that can give you the same thrill"

[biplanebluey]

More bad publicity for the Thai tourism industry ... wonder how TAT will spin this one.

There's no way I'd ever travel in one of these death traps. Mind you the same could be said for the taxis and minivans as well.

If you read the OP you will see that the driver swerved off the road to avoid another vehicle coming at him on the wrong side of the road whilst overtaking and thus causing a head on collision.Perhaps it would have been curtains for sure for the car driver if the Bus driver stayed on the road instead of swerving,butmaybe more injuries or maybe deaths to the bus tourists.Difficult decision for the bus driver.At least in this instance we are not blaming poor maintenance Edited December 30, 2014 by biplanebluey

[maidee]

the few russians left, they manage to get them into accidents

[LivinginKata]

Troll post and the 2 replies - removed.

[samsensam]

the new 'lets's expose tourists to thainess' campaign gets off to a good start.

[ggt]

OMG...where could they possibly have found 10 Russian tourist?

Where they trying desperately to leave the country?

[tancred]

It's not the roads that are dangerous,it's the drivers and the tool they are in charge of,same anywhere in the world.

[JOC]

"The bus was carrying arriving Russian tourists from Phuket International Airport to their holiday accommodation, Phuket police said."

Poor Russians, just arrived in their duct-taped aircraft, and then straight into another death trap: A Thai bus!!

Hope the injured recover quickly!!

[Strangebrew]

Never and I repeat never pass on a hill. Also If I were driver of bus the head on with a ford fiesta no brainer hit the ford head on 1500 pounds can't budge 8500 pounds plus most likely fiesta would under the bus.

[vijer]

More bad publicity for the Thai tourism industry ... wonder how TAT will spin this one.

There's no way I'd ever travel in one of these death traps. Mind you the same could be said for the taxis and minivans as well.

If you read the OP you will see that the driver swerved off the road to avoid another vehicle coming at him on the wrong side of the road whilst overtaking and thus causing a head on collision.Perhaps it would have been curtains for sure for the car driver if the Bus driver stayed on the road instead of swerving,butmaybe more injuries or maybe deaths to the bus tourists.Difficult decision for the bus driver.At least in this instance we are not blaming poor maintenance

Yah, great idea, SWERVING a top heavy vehicle moving at speed down a hill. Exactly why rollovers happen. The center of gravity is too high for that maneuver. Better to jamb on the breaks and hit the oncoming vehicle at a lower speed.

[Patong2]

Having just driven past the crash site

it is truly amazing people were not killed

It occurred on the Patong side of the Kamala hill at the last downhill right hand curve and the bus

took the guard rail and rolled over the bank to the drive about 4 - 5 metres below landing on the roof and squashing it almost to the bottom of the window frames.

Sad start to the holidays for the injured and it would have been a truly frightening experience.

By the way the traffic jam was still from the Kamala virtually to Patong at 5pm about 10 hours later.

[duksiam]

Of course the bus driver swerved to preserve his own life. I don't understand why many highway busses in Thailand are designed with the drives seat so low...at car level. Surely placing the driver's position higher gives him better visibility of the road ahead..

[MaiChai]

I am not sure why Thais seem so confident driving so fast? Vehicals are made out of thin sheet steal and there is limited protection. Anytime a Thai comes up behind me and sits on my tail, i let them pass; let them speed ahead and kill themselves! My recent driving license renewal involved being forced to watch horrific crashes at the Land Transport Dept. Despite this the Thais still drive recklessly!

[changsinghleo]

If it is a vehicle which requires me to pay to ride in it, in Thailand I never take it. Just too unsafe compared to western

standards. The drivers seat is positioned low as it is on a bus so the driver can have a slight chance to see through a

windscreen which is covered with unnecessary decals of every sort, mostly religious. Why is this allowed when seeing through the window is extremely important with safety the concern? Garlands of flowers dangle from the rear view mirror as if they can be

helpful. In my opinion they cannot enhance safety when they block the view. Just because one has completed a long flight safely doesn't mean you are now safely at destination. Those bus journeys put you in more jeopardy than the flight.

[Lokie]

Been over that road many times on scooters/big bikes/cars/pick ups and no matter what the vehicle it has never felt the need to 'Flip' over onto its roof but then again I am not travelling at Warp Factor 8

Maybe (and Im going out on a limb here) it could be poor standards of driver training, maybe....?

Can have all the Armco in the world lining the roads but while you have F oo K-wit$ behind the wheels then sooner rather than later you will have tears

[stevenl]

Been over that road many times on scooters/big bikes/cars/pick ups and no matter what the vehicle it has never felt the need to 'Flip' over onto its roof but then again I am not travelling at Warp Factor 8

Maybe (and Im going out on a limb here) it could be poor standards of driver training, maybe....?

Can have all the Armco in the world lining the roads but while you have F oo K-wit$ behind the wheels then sooner rather than later you will have tears

And how often were you forced of the road by oncoming traffic, traveling on the wrong side, in a top heavy vehicle?

[hansgruber]

Here it lies by the road with its logo painted over as thais love to protect their image.

I'm very surprised nobody died as the roof is up against the headrests.

[stevenl]

Here it lies by the road with its logo painted over as thais love to protect their image.

I'm very surprised nobody died as the roof is up against the headrests.

Extra damage has been done with turning it upright again, so 'roof up against the headrests' now does not mean it was that way after the accident.

[hansgruber]

Here it lies by the road with its logo painted over as thais love to protect their image.

I'm very surprised nobody died as the roof is up against the headrests.

Extra damage has been done with turning it upright again, so 'roof up against the headrests' now does not mean it was that way after the accident.

Thanks crash investigator. Glad we have you to set the record straight.