A schoolgirl was killed and 15 other students injured when a van they were travelling in overturned in Muang district of Lampang on Friday morning.
The incident occurred on Lampang-Muang Pan Road at Thung Pongrian village about 6.50am, according to the police 191 radio centre.
Police and rescue workers rushing to the scene found a Toyota van with Lampang licence plates overturned along the roadside. Students, both boys and girls, were heard crying inside the school van.
Rescue workers retrieved the injured from the vehicle. A five-year-old girl, who was in the backseat, was killed.
The driver, identified only as Saengchan, told police that the van was carrying 25 students from Prathom Suksa 1 (Grade 1) to Mathayom Suksa 6 (Grade 12) from villages to schools in downtown Muang district.
Ms Saengchan said she lost control of the vehicle at a curve, causing it to plunge into the roadside.
Police suspected the van skidded because the road was slippery following heavy rain.
The Meteorological Department predicts heavy rains in the western part of the North, the Central Plains and the South from May 20 to 26 due to southwesterly winds and low pressure areas.