This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
According to preliminary studies, a blown wheel or a collision with another vehicle may have ignited a fire that engulfed a charter bus, killing at least 25 people, mainly students, on a Tuesday field trip near Bangkok, according to officials.
Patients were kept inside because the lights started spreading immediately after the fire started on a vehicle carrying 44 people, 38 pupils, and six teachers, from the Wat Khao Phra Ya Sangkharam School in Uthai Thani state.
The tragic fire that broke out as the vehicle traveled along the Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, a bridge in a district north of Bangkok, according to authorities, with many more patients also being injured, according to authorities, who added that the death toll was rise.
” Twenty-three people died at the scene, while two others succumbed to their wounds at Rangsit Medical Center”, acting National Police Chief Kittirat , Phanphet told reporters.  ,
According to investigators, a ’s blown tire may have caused the fire by igniting the gas tank and sparking the spark.
” Some bodies we rescued were very, very small”, said Piyalak Thinkaew, a rescue worker at the scene, according to a video report by Agence France-Presse ( AFP). They may have attended school or not have been in Year 2 after that.
” It must have been the kids ‘ instinct to escape to the back]where many bodies were found ]”, he said.
The fire , started , around 12: 20 p. m. as the vehicle, the next in a caravan of three, was traveling to Nonthaburi state.  , Local media reported that the trucks carrying the youngsters, who ranged in age from , kindergartners , to fresh youth, were on their manner to , the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand as part of their school’s industry trip.
Anutin Charnvirakul, deputy prime minister and interior minister, visited the scene.
We’re accelerating the autopsy process to make sure the deceased’s families can receive them soon. All injured are receiving full medical care” , , he told reporters.
The victims ‘ bodies would be transported to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital for autopsies, according to Chamnan Iamyim, a rescue worker from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.  ,
According to the Associated Press news service, Kittirat claimed that three victims had been hospitalized while 16 others had been given injuries before being discharged.
The police chief , said the initial investigation focused on a potential tire blowout, while Deputy Prime Minister , Suriya Juangroongruangkit , said a collision with another vehicle could have been the cause.
” Based on witness testimonies, we believe a tire explosion created sparks that ignited the gas tank in the vehicle, causing the fire to spread rapidly into the passenger compartment”, Kittirat said.
Driver reports to police
He claimed that the bus driver vanished after the fire.
The Provincial Police Region 1 has been given the directive to look into the incident and apprehend the driver, according to Kittirat.
Hours later, the driver, who returned to his hometown in Sing Buri province, turned himself in to police at around 7 p. m. local time.
Suriya, who serves as transport minister, said preliminary findings indicated that , the bus collided with another vehicle, lost control and struck a roadside barrier.  ,
He claimed that this collision likely resulted in sparks that led to the fuel tank, raising concerns about compressed natural gas’s use in public transportation.  , The bus was powered by CNG. We might need to consider outlawing CNG use if it proves hazardous for this kind of vehicle. I will review the , ministry’s authority , on this matter”, he said.  ,
In a post on X, Prime Minister , Paetongtarn Shinawatra , wrote that she had dispatched Anutin and Suriya to the scene. ” As a mother, I extend my deepest sympathies to the families of those injured and deceased”, she , said, adding” the government will cover all medical expenses and provide compensation to the , families of the deceased” . , In November 2023, the , World Health Organization , reported that traffic accidents in Thailand result in about 20, 000 deaths and 1 million injuries each year. That figure corresponds to more than 50 fatalities per day.
Meechai Sa-ard, a moto-taxi driver, was about 1 km ( 0.6 mile ) from the site of Tuesday’s disaster. ” There was smoke everywhere. Poor children, I heard they were very little”, he told AFP. I hoped that God would intervene so that the children would survive in the rain and the fire would be out.