Six die in horror bus ravine plunge
PRACHIN BURI: Two students and four teachers were killed in a horrific road accident after a double-decker coach plunged into a ravine in Na Di district during a school field trip yesterday.
The accident also left 44 others injured. The high school students were travelling from Khon Kaen province to Chanthaburi.
The blue Scania bus, licence number 30-1027 and registered in Ubon Ratchathani, had picked up 43 students and six teachers from Pungtui-pattanasuksa School in Nam Phong district of Khon Kaen, where they had gathered to make merit before leaving.
The bus was heading for the Khung Kraben Bay Royal Development Study Centre in Chanthaburi’s Tha Mai district. The trip was a reward for the students after completing their final exams.
The bus ran off the narrow road in the dark at a 45-degree curve on a downhill section of Highway 304 (Nakhon RatchasimaNa Di), in the area where Khao Yai and Thap Lan national parks adjoin, at about 4.30am yesterday, said Pol Lt Col Mongkol Chanploy, a deputy superintendent of Wang Khon Daeng police station.
The wrecked coach came to a stop in a ravine approximately 20 metres below the highway.
Three teachers and two students died at the scene. Forty-five others were rushed to Nadi Hospital and Kabin Nuri Hospital. Another teacher later succumbed to injuries at Nadi Hospital.
The 33-year-old driver of the coach, identified as Wandee Phumphuang, fled.
Meanwhile, Nadi district chief Noppadol Ngamlua, who visited the injured at Nadi Hospital yesterday, said while the coach was approaching the accident scene, passengers noticed a burning smell from the brakes at the driver’s seat.
Shortly after, the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a Mitsubishi car in another lane before running into roadside power poles and plunging into the ravine.
The car, carrying a Ubon Ratchathani licence plate, belonged t o Santhichai Inthana.
The coach wreckage was retrieved from the ravine and is being kept at Wang Khon Daeng police station for further investigation, Mr Noppadol added.
Thanapong Jinvong, programme manager of the Road Safety Group Thailand (RSG) from the National Health Foundation, said road accidents during field trips occur too often.
The root causes of the problems include limited budgets that force organisers to hire coaches in sub-standard condition. Meanwhile, drivers usually lack familiarity with the routes. In addition, to save money, the trips are usually made at night and in many cases, the drivers are exhausted, he said.
Scania Siam Co Ltd said in a letter yesterday to the Bangkok Post that the coach in this case was an assembled coach, not an authentic vehicle of the brand.