Ten killed, 17 injured in Surat Thani bus crash
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Ten persons were killed and 17 others were injured when an inter-provincial bus carrying Thais and foreign tourists skidded off the road and slammed into an electric power transmission pole at dawn on Tuesday in Surat Thani province.
The driver lost control of the first-class, air-conditioned Transport Co. Ltd vehicle, which slammed into an electric power transmission pole on Surat Thani-Nakhon Si Thammarat Road in Kanchanadit district.
Ten people including the driver and Amit Jain, an Indian, were killed in the crash. Five bodies were unidentified and were sent for autopsies at Surat Thani Hospital.
Another 17 Thai and foreigners were injured and are being treated in local hospitals.
The bus, which was carrying 24 passengers, the driver and two bus attendants, left Bangkok at 7.50pm on Monday en route to Pha-ngan Island in the southern province of Surat Thani.
According to the initial investigation, the front right tire burst, causing the driver to lose control. The bus was travelling at full speed when it the power pole.
Electric transmission wires were ripped apart and gas was leaking from the disabled bus. Local authorities cut the electricity, while a responding fire truck stood by at the crash site.
