Eight buses parked inside a service depot in Samut Prakan province have been damaged in a fire. Investigators suspect faulty wiring as the cause.
Police received the report of a fire at the depot located inside a large service station in tambon Racha Thewa of Bang Phli district. More than 10 fire trucks from surrounding areas were dispatched to the site.
Emergency workers found eight buses ablaze among the more than 50 vehicles at the facility. The flames quickly spread from one vehicle to another. There were periodic explosions as the buses were powered by natural gas.
The depot is run by Premium Management, which operates a bus service from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Lat Phrao and Rangsit.
Buses parked inside a service depot in Samut Prakan province are damaged in a fire on Friday night. (Photo by Sarot Meksophawannkul)
It took the firefighters about an hour to put out the fire. Seven buses and another coach were destroyed. The damage has been estimated at around 20 million baht. There were no reports of injuries.
Tawat Kaewjaidee, 40, a depot worker, told investigators that the buses were out of service and had been parked for months waiting to be repaired. Some of them had been converted into workers' accommodations and had been wired for electricity.
Right before the fire, Mr Tawat said he saw smoke coming from a yellow bus and then a spark which spread to the adjacent vehicles.
Initially, police believe that power overload was the cause of the fire.
As some of the buses had been turned to workers' living compartments, many electrical fans and rice cookers were hooked up to power outlets.