As many as 23 people, mostly children, are feared dead after a school bus caught fire in suburban Bangkok on Tuesday. The bus was carrying 44 passengers from the central Uthai Thani province for a school trip to the Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungruengkit told reporters at the scene, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Local news as well as rescuers said the bus was heading to Nonthaburi when the fire started around noon in Bangkok's neighbouring Pathum Thani province, according to AP. The driver allegedly fled the scene.
The students on the bus were reported to be in elementary and junior high school. Several videos posted on social media showed the bus engulfed in flames and black smoke billowing from it. AP reported that the bodies of the deceased were still inside the bus hours after the fire.
The police were unable to immediately confirm the number of dead or injured, but Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stated that approximately 25 people were believed to have died. Anutin did not elaborate further, according to Reuters.
However, Piyalak Thinkaew, a rescuer of the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, said two more survivors had been found, reducing the number of those still missing to 23 — three teachers and 20 students, as per AP.
The transport minister said 16 students and 3 teachers were sent to hospital for treatment, adding that the cause of the incident was still being investigated, the report added. The interior minister said the driver survived but appeared to have fled and has yet to be traced.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra offered her condolences in a post on social media platform X, saying the government would take care of the victims' medical expenses and compensate the families of the deceased. "As a mother, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families," she said in a social media post on X.