PHETCHABUN: A bus taking a group of elderly people on a tour of Khao Kho and Lom Sak districts overturned on Sunday morning, killing one of the tourists and injuring about 20 others, police said.
The accident occurred at about 10am on Highway 12 (Phitsanulok-Lom Sak) between kilometre markers 342-343 near a branch road to the Nam Chun reservoir in tambon Nam Chun of Lom Kao district.
The passengers told police that the double-decker bus was taking 43 elderly people from Bangkok to visit several temples and tourist attractions in Phetchabun.
After visiting Wat Pa Phu Thai Boek and Wat Pha Son Kaew temples, the tourists stayed overnight at Khao Kho.
While on the way back from Khao Kho on Sunday, the bus suffered a brake failure while climbing uphill, causing it to slip backward, crashing into a roadside barrier before overturning. The vehicle came to rest on its side, blocking three of the four traffic lanes.
A female tourist, Bussakorn Thongsri, 64, of Bangkok's Nong Khaem district, was killed. About 20 other passengers were injured. They were admitted to Lam Sak Hospital.
About 20 soldiers from the 28th Cavalry Battalion arrived shortly after the accident to help move the bus to the side of the highway.
The organiser of the group tour later sent a bus from Lom Sak district to take the passengers who were not injured back to Bangkok.
