19 students hurt in van crash during heavy rain

Rescue services help students at the scene of the van crash in Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai on Wednesday morning. Nineteen students, aged 5-17, were hurt, four of them seriously. (Photo taken from Saengtham rescue foundation in Mae Chan via Chinpat Chaimon)

CHIANG RAI: Nineteen students were injured, four of them seriously, when a van taking them to school crashed and rolled over at a curve during heavy rain in Mae Chan district on Wednesday morning.

The accident occurred on Phahon Yothin Road in tambon Mae Chan about 6.40am, said Pol Capt Nopphon Kamnerd, a duty officer at Mae Chan police station.

Police and rescue workers reported finding the damaged van standing upright on the road's grassy median strip. Many students, aged 5-17 years, were trapped inside. One schoolgirl was thrown out of the vehicle during the crash.  

All 19 students, boys and girls, were injured and were rushed to a nearby hospital. Most had minor injuries such as bruising, but four of them were seriously hurt.

The driver, Yongyut Thongkon, 54, told police he was taking the students to their respective schools. It was raining heavily, the road was slippery and he lost control at a curve. The van hit the road barrier and rolled over before coming to rest on the road divider.

A rescue volunteer checks the wrecked van to make sure no injured students reman inside following the crash in Mae Chan district, Chiang Rai on Wednsday morning. (Photo taken from Saengtham rescue foundation in Mae Chan via Chinpat Chaimon)

Students with minor injuries arrive at a hospital, many of them in tears. (Photo taken from Saengtham rescue foundation in Mae Chan via Chinpat Chaimon)