At least 20 children killed in Thai bus accident

The bodies of 23 people have been recovered after a bus carrying elementary school students crashed and caught fire on the outskirts of Bangkok.

The bus was returning to the Thai capital after a school trip to the north. It is believed that the majority of victims are children.

Video of the scene shows the bus burning under an overpass, with flames engulfing it and thick black smoke rising into the sky.

Transport Minister Suriyahe Juangroongruangkit said the buses run using “extremely dangerous” compressed natural gas.

Witnesses said the bus crashed into a concrete barrier dividing a highway north of Bangkok after its front tire burst.

The bus quickly burned up in intense flames, and many people on board were unable to escape. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Nineteen children and three teachers are reported to have survived, with 16 of them suffering injuries and receiving treatment in hospital.

“This is a very tragic incident,” Prime Minister Suryahe told reporters at the scene.

“The Ministry should, if possible, find measures to ban passenger vehicles like this from using this type of fuel, as it is extremely dangerous.”

Piyalak Thinkaew, who led the search, said the body was so badly burned that it was difficult to identify it.

“Some of the bodies we found were very small,” he told reporters at the scene, adding, “The fire started at the front of the bus.”

“The kids’ instinct was to escape to the back so the body was there,” he said.

Forensic police said that of the 23 bodies discovered, 11 were male, 7 were female, and 5 were unidentifiable.

The driver fled the scene of the accident, but authorities are confident he will be tracked down, according to Thai Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

The ages of the children on board are unclear, but the school has students ranging in age from 3 to 15 years old.

Thailand is One of the worst road safety records in the worldUnsafe vehicles and poor driving cause approximately 20,000 deaths per year.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said an investigation was ongoing. He continued, “We need to investigate driving traces through tire marks, burn marks, and CCTV footage.”