A passenger bus transporting 48 people from Bangkok to Chiang Rai crashed into the back of a transport truck and careened off the road into a deep ravine in northern Thailand’s Phrae Province, killing one passenger and injuring 20 others.
Pol. Col. Bamrung Nomsian, Superintendent of Song Police Station in Phrae Province, told reporters that he had received a report of a tour bus colliding with a trailer truck and crashed into a ravine on a winding, uphill and downhill asphalt road in Ban Wang Din, Song District.
He said police officers and rescue workers were dispatched to the accident scene, where they found a freight truck on the side of the road and the passenger bus with the front smashed in a ravine on the mountainside. Some passengers were already on the roadside, while others were trapped in the wreckage.
Rescue workers immediately assisted the passengers trapped inside the bus while others attended to the injured on the roadside. The injured were rushed to 4 nearby hospitals: Song Hospital, Rong Kwang Hospital, Nong Khai Hospital, and Phrae Hospital.
Mr. Chutidet Meechan, Governor of Phrae Province, along with the president of the Red Cross Society of Phrae Province and officials from related agencies, visited the injured passengers in the hospital. According to police, 35 passengers had been released from the hospital, and 13 others, including 2 foreigners, were still being treated for their injuries.
The deceased passenger was later identified as Mr. Charoen (surname withheld), 75, from Mae Ka Subdistrict of Phayao Province.
Bus accidents are a serious issue in Thailand, with high rates of injury and fatality. Bus accidents account for approximately 2.5 percent of total traffic accidents, with an estimated 600-1,000 deaths among all 13,000 annual road tolls.
Geoff Thomas is an award winning journalist known for his sharp insights and no-nonsense reporting style. Over the years he has worked for Reuters and the Canadian Press covering everything from political scandals to human interest stories. He brings a clear and direct approach to his work.
