At least 18 people were killed and dozens injured when a bus traveling in northeastern Thailand went off the road and hit a tree, authorities said on Thursday.
The accident occurred on Wednesday evening in Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima province when the double-decker bus was carrying about 50 people returning home from vacation.
“18 people died, including 12 women and 6 men, including one boy,” said Suthep Ruenthawil, head of the disaster prevention and mitigation unit in Nakhon Ratchasima province.
He added that 28 people were being treated for injuries.
Photos published in local media of the aftermath of the accident show a part of the bus lying on its side and officers standing next to a row of body bags.
Suthep said the bus driver lost control of the vehicle because it went down a hill, then went off the road, jumped over a road island after which hit a big tree.
“The bus was torn into two parts,” he added.
Lieutenant Colonel Pornpattana Pisitkarn of the Udomsap police station near the accident site said the bus’s brakes appeared to have failed.
— Hook31 Nakhon Ratchasima Hook31 (@Hook31_Thailand) March 21, 2018
According to the World Health Organization, Thailand’s roads are among the many deadliest on the planet. About 24,000 people die there yearly.
More than half of the accidents involve motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians, although bus accidents involving tourists and migrant employees are also common.
In November, 13 Myanmar nationals died when their van collided with a truck in central Thailand and burst into flames.
This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: A double-decker tour bus hits a tree, killing 18 people
