Dozing bus driver nearly kills dozens

Dozing bus driver nearly kills dozens

A passenger points to the bus after its driver dozed off on Highway 304 in Kabin Buri district, Prachin Buri, Saturday morning. (Photos by Manit Sanubboon)
A passenger points to the bus after its driver dozed off on Highway 304 in Kabin Buri district, Prachin Buri, Saturday morning. (Photos by Manit Sanubboon)

PRACHIN BURI: Twenty-five passengers and their driver cheated death when the latter dozed off on a highway in Kabin Buri district Saturday on a trip back from Songkran holiday. No one was hurt but a passenger fainted.

The first-class, air-conditioned inter-provincial bus registered in Udon Thani province was on Highway 304 (Kabin Buri-Sri Mahaphot) in tambon Lad Takhian when the incident happened at about 6am. It was carrying 25 people back to work from the northeastern province of Udon Thani to Rayong in the East.

After being informed of the incident, police arrived at the scene and saw shocked passengers resting with their luggage on the roadside near the parked bus. Among the passengers was a 30-year-old man who fainted.

"After the bus left a terminal in Kabin Buri for about 20 minutes, it swerved repeatedly, so I shouted to the driver and other passengers," said passenger Janprapha Singmanee.

"After it was parked, no one dared to get back into it. Many people phoned relatives to pick them up... The driver should have had enough rest," she said.

Kannicha Chan-amporn, another passenger, said she thought she would have been among victims in news reports of the latest bus tragedy while the bus was veering left and right.

Passengers said the driver lost control of the vehicle for about 100 metres before waking up.

Co-driver Somkid Phanyo, in his 40's, admitted he had dozed off less than half an hour after leaving the Kabin Buri bus terminal.

"When I woke up, I slowed down and parked it safely," he said.

Rescue workers give first aid to the man who fainted after learning the driver of the bus he was travelling in had dozed off.


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