KANCHANABURI: Nine foreign tourists were injured when a roadside tree believed to have been illegally cut suddenly fell onto a bus on Friday morning. A suspected timber poacher was subsequently arrested and a chainsaw and a pruning saw seized.
The bus carrying 30 European tourists was travelling on Highway 3199 in Tha Manao Village Moo 2 of tambon Wang Dong in Muang district when the tree fell onto it, said Pol Lt Col Maneephat Phengkret, investigation chief at the Lat Ya police station, who was alerted at about 10am.
Local police, tourist police, rescuers and conservation officers went to the scene and found the bus with Kanchanaburi licence plates parked on the road heading to the Erawan waterfall in Sri Sawat district. The windscreen was shattered by the impact of the tree.
Nine foreign passengers — one man and eight women — sustained injuries to their legs, arms and faces from broken tree branches and glass. Rescuers gave them first aid before sending them to a nearby hospital. They were later discharged after receiving treatment. (Story continues below)
The roadside tree that fell onto the bus carrying foreign tourists in Kanchanaburi. (Photo: Piyarach Chongcharoen)
After inspecting the tree, officials found it had not fallen down naturally but was felled by an electric chainsaw. Piles of sawdust were found around the base of the tree.
Paithoon Inthabut, head of the Salak Phra wildlife sanctuary, ordered his staff to join with police to hunt down those involved in illegal logging.
The team later spotted a suspected pickup truck travelling on a gravel road through a forested area not far from the spot where the tree had fallen.
The team gave chase and managed to stop the vehicle. The driver, identified only as Wasin, 39, of Bang Krathum district in Phitsanulok, was arrested, with a chainsaw and a pruning saw seized.
He was held for questioning to find out whether he had illegally felled the tree.
Rescuers give first aid to the injured tourists. (Photo: Piyarach Chongcharoen)
Police question a 39-year-old man suspected of illegally cutting the tree that fell on a bus in Kanchanaburi on Friday. A chainsaw and a pruning saw were seized from the bed of his pickup truck. (Photo: Piyarach Chongcharoen)