A double-decker bus carrying passengers home from an outing crashed in Nakhon Ratchasima on Wednesday night, killing 18 and injuring 32, the provincial governor said.
Pol Col Jeerawat Prayoonsub, a duty officer of Udomsub police station, told INN news agency that the driver lost control. As the bus veered off the road, it narrowly missed an 18-wheeled lorry coming in the opposite direction. The bus ran into trees and also hit five roadside stalls before overturning.
The bus was descending a hill on winding Highway 304 in tambon Udomsub, Wang Nam Khiao district, near Khao Yai National Park. It was carrying 50 passengers back to Sakon Nakhon from an outing to Chanthaburi when the accident occurred, he added.
Fifteen died at the scene and three others died at the hospital. Some 32 people were injured, according to police. The accident occurred at 7.30pm.
Nakhon Ratchasima governor Wichian Jantaranothai said the braking system of the bus malfunctioned. Passengers recalled the smell of burning about three kilometres before the crash.
Reports indicate that the bus was driving at 80 kilometres per hour. Officials were trying to find out if the driver was among the dead, he said.
Passenger Somjit Jampasee said the bus was swerving for some time before others started shouting that the brakes had failed. Many passengers then crouched just before the bus hit the concrete barriers on a traffic island.
