Tour bus crash in Thailand’s Surat Thani leaves 5 dead, 30 injured
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The police suspect the bus driver was unfamiliar with the road and lost control on a bend.
PHOTO: THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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SURAT THANI – Five passengers were killed and 30 injured when a chartered bus travelling from Yala to Samut Sakhon in Thailand crashed into a roadside tree in Surat Thani’s Chaiya district on the evening of Jan 1.
The accident occurred at 7.41pm on highway No. 41 close to the Pa We Intersection in Tambon Pa We, Chaiya district.
The police suspect the driver was unfamiliar with the road and lost control on a bend, causing the Dee Mee Prom bus to overturn and smash into a tree.
The bus was full of tourists returning to Samut Sakhon after their trip to Betong district in Yala on the final day of the five-day New Year holiday.
Rescuers arrived at the scene to find injured passengers trapped in the wreckage. Eighteen survivors were taken to Tha Chang Hospital and 12 others to Chaiya Hospital.
The bodies of two men and three women were retrieved from the bus.
Bus driver Suthep Boonchoom, 47, and his assistant Prakit Boonchoom, 45, were taken to Chaiya police station and charged with reckless driving causing death and injury.
A passenger recounted that moments before the crash, the bus driver had asked passengers if they wanted to stop and buy souvenirs from the roadside shops in Chaiya, but the passengers opted to wait for a later stop at a restaurant. The passenger then heard a loud noise, before the bus overturned.
Four of the five victims were identified as passengers Sunthorn Promnit, Sutham Towsi, Sudawadee Towsi and Nachanok Simran. The police have not yet identified the fifth victim, a woman.
Surat Thani Governor Thirut Supawibul on Jan 2 offered his condolences to families of the victims. He said severely injured passengers had been referred to Surat Thani Hospital for treatment.
Executives from the Surat Thani administration visited injured passengers to offer moral support, while providing accommodation and food to those with minor injuries, before arranging their return home.
The bus was full of tourists returning to Samut Sakhon after their trip to Betong district in Yala.
PHOTO: THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
The governor pledged speedy compensation for victims and families and an investigation to pinpoint the cause of the accident. He added that relatives had been notified to claim the bodies.
The wrecked bus was towed to Chaiya police station for investigation. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
