18 die in Thailand holiday bus crash

At least 18 people were killed and dozens injured when a bus in north-eastern Thailand veered off the road and smashed into a tree, authorities said yesterday. The accident happened on Wednesday in Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima province with the double decker bus carrying 50 people returning home from a holiday. “There were 18 people killed, of these 12 were women and six were men, one of whom was a boy,” said Suthep Ruenthawil of the Nakhon Ratchasima provincial disaster prevention unit. He said the bus driver lost control while the vehicle was going downhill, before it veered off the road and jumped a traffic island then smashed into a large tree.