BURI RAM: One passenger was killed and seven others injured when a tour bus taking them to a temple plunged into a roadside ditch after one of its tyres burst in Nong Ki district early Saturday morning.
The incident happened between kilometre markers 90 and 91 on Highway 24 along the Chok Chai-Det Udom route heading to downtown Nong Ki district, said Pol Capt Thongsuk Prongthalae, deputy investigation chief at the Nong Ki police station.
Police and rescue workers arriving at the scene found a double-decker bus with Prachuap Khiri Khan licence plates overturned in a ditch. One passenger was found dead and trapped inside. Seven others were hurt, two seriously, and were taken to Nong Ki and Nang Rong hospitals.
Arom Saisawat, 59, of Hua Hin, said she and 48 neighbours had boarded the bus from Hua Hin for a thod krathin robe-offering ceremony at Wat Suanpa Assamitham in Samrong Thap district of Surin province. As they travelled through Buri Ram, a tyre suddenly burst, causing the bus to overturn and plunge into the ditch. The passengers screamed with fear, she said.
The driver, identified only as Mon, 26, said the bus had left Hua Hin around 6pm on Friday and stopped at a few petrol stations along the route. About 10km after his most recent stop, one of the tyres burst, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, he said.