Singaporean killed, 7 hurt in Phuket car-bus crash

PHUKET: A Singaporean woman was killed and seven others, including her four compatriots, injured when a car she was driving hit a small tour bus while coming downhill on a hilly road in Muang district on Friday night.

The accident was reported around 10.50pm, said Pol Capt Charnnarong Prakhongkua, an investigation officer at Karon police station.

Police, disaster prevention and mitigation officials and rescue workers arrived at the scene and found a badly damaged Toyota Yaris with Phuket licence plates and a small white bus with Phuket licence plates and a broken windscreen on Patak Road in tambon Karon.

A preliminary investigation found that the car was travelling from tambon Chalong to tambon Karon. While the car was coming downhill, the driver lost control of her vehicle, causing it to hit the bus, which earlier took a group of tourists to Kata beach.

The impact of the crash caused five Singaporean tourists including the driver, the bus driver and two tour guides to sustain injuries. One of the guides was a South Korean national.

The injured from both vehicles were rushed to Chalong and Vachira Phuket hospitals.

The Singaporean woman driver was unconscious at the scene and succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital.

Police investigation was continuing to find the exact cause of the crash.