Fifteen persons were killed and 40 others were injured when a chartered bus packed with students and teachers on a school field trip hit a pickup truck and veered into the past of an 18-wheel truck in the eastern province of Prachin Buri before plunging off the road on a steep hillside.
The accident occurred at about 5am today as two chartered buses were taking 98 students and 16 teachers from Ban Dong Lop School in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima to Pattaya resort in coastal Chon Buri province.
When the double-decker buses arrived at Prachinburi’s Na Di district the road was winding and steep. Investigators think that the bus driver lost control of his brakes and crashed into a pickup truck in front of the bus.
The driver tried to turn the bus away but hit an 18-wheel truck and left the road, crashing into a deep ravine before a large tree stopped the vehicle from plunging a further 200 metres down the hillside.
Fifteen persons died at the scene and more than 40 others were injured and sent to nearby hospitals for treatment.
