14 dead as bus smashes into tree in Thailand
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BANGKOK - A double-decker bus smashed into a tree in southern Thailand, killing at least 14 people and injuring 32, the Thai police said on Dec 5.
The long-distance bus was travelling from Bangkok to the country’s far south when it hit a tree in the coastal Prachuap Khiri Khan province on the night of Dec 4.
Photos published in local media showed the front part of the bus split in two by the force of the crash, with the tree still wedged in the middle.
“From a preliminary investigation, 14 people died and 32 people were injured,” Mr Arnon Tangto, a police investigator in Huay Yang district in Prachuap Khiri Khan told AFP news agency, saying a probe is under way.
He said the cause of the accident has not been confirmed, but the police suspect the driver – who was badly injured but survived – may not have had enough sleep.
“We are collaborating with the hospital to check his blood alcohol level,” said Mr Arnon.
The police are still investigating whether all the dead victims were Thai.
Thailand has one of the highest road accident rates in the world with around 20,000 people killed every year, according to the World Health Organisation. AFP
