School bus catches fire in Thailand, with 25 feared dead

BANGKOK: A devastating fire tore through a Thai bus carrying 44 students and teachers on a school trip Tuesday (Oct 1), officials said, with up to 25 feared dead.
Sixteen students and three teachers were taken to a hospital for treatment, Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said.
The bus caught fire in Pathum Thani province, on the outskirts of the capital Bangkok.
Police could not immediately confirm the number of injuries or deaths but Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that about 25 people were believed to have been killed, without elaborating.
“Initial reports said there are 44 on board, 38 students and six teachers. As far as we know now, three teachers and 16 students got out,” the transport minister told reporters.
“For those still missing, we are not clear yet.”
A bus tyre had burst on a highway, sending the vehicle crashing into a barrier, a rescue worker said in footage broadcast on local TV.
The bus was running on compressed gas and the crash ignited its fuel tanks, the rescue worker said.
Video footage from the scene showed flames engulfing the bus as it burned under an overpass, huge clouds of dense black smoke billowing into the sky.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the students were from the province of Uthai Thani, about 250km north of Bangkok.
“As a mother, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the injured and deceased,” Paetongtarn wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The blaze has been put out but rescue workers have had to wait for the bus to cool down before searching it for bodies, a rescue worker said.