NAKHON SI THAMMARAT - Four students were hurt when a school bus they were travelling in rammed into the rear of a truck in Na Bon district on Wednesday morning.
The crash occurred on Asia 41 Road in tambon Kaew Saen of this southern province, said Pol Capt Anuchart Borisut, deputy investigation chief at Na Bon police station.
Police and rescue workers rushed to the scene after being reported at 7.30am. A yellow school bus, belonging to Tantiwatra School and with a Nakon Si Thammarat licence plate, was found with its front damaged and windshield shattered
Four of the 20 kindergarten and elementary school students on the bus were injured and sent to a nearby hospital. Two vans were later sent to pick up the remaining students to the school.
Not far from the scene, an 18-wheel truck with a Samut Sakhon licence plate was parked with its back damaged.
Bus driver Sathit Rattanaburi, 51, told police that his bus was on the way to the school. When arriving at the scene, he saw the truck ahead of him. He tried to overtake it, but the truck driver applied the brakes at close range, causing his bus to ram into it.
Truck driver Narong Dakaew, 55, said he noticed the school bus was behind so he tried to keep left to let it overtake his vehicle, but the bus rear-ended his truck.
Police were investigating.
A police officer inspects an 18-wheel truck after a school bus rammed into its rear in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Wednesday morning. (Photo by Nujaree Raekrun)