Tragedy Strikes School Trip: Bus Fire in Bangkok Claims Multiple Lives

A bus carrying students and teachers caught fire in a Bangkok suburb, leaving 25 feared dead. The vehicle was en route from Uthai Thani to Ayutthaya when the fire began, likely due to a tire explosion. Rescue efforts are ongoing, but the bus remains too hot to enter.

A bus carrying young students with their teachers caught fire in suburban Bangkok on Tuesday, with 25 of those on board feared dead, according to officials and rescuers.

The bus was transporting 44 passengers from central Uthai Thani province to Ayutthaya for a school trip when the fire started around noon in Pathum Thani province, a northern suburb of the capital, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungruengkit told reporters at the scene.

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that officials could not yet confirm the number of fatalities as they have not finished investigating the scene. However, based on the number of survivors, he estimated that 25 people are feared dead. He also said the bus was still too hot for them to enter safely.

Bodies remained inside the bus hours after the fire was extinguished.

Videos posted on social media showed the entire bus engulfed in flames, emitting huge plumes of black smoke as it was parked on the road. The age and other details about the students were not yet known.

A rescuer at the scene told Suriya that the fire likely started after one of the tires exploded and the vehicle scraped against a road barrier.

Rescue group Hongsakul Khlong Luang 21 posted on its Facebook page that they found at least 10 bodies on the bus.

(With inputs from agencies.)