Driver Flees after Bus Crashes in Ayutthaya, Two Burn to Death in Car Wreck in Phitsanulok

AYUTTHAYA – An inter-Provincial bus heading from the Northeast to Bangkok skidded off the road in Bang Pa-in district of Bangkok on Monday morning, injuring 29 passengers.

Some of the passengers interviewed by highway police said that they suspected the bus driver dozed off due to lack of rest as the bus moved unsteadily before it skidded off the lane, climbed on a road island and turned one side up.

The impact injured 29 passengers – 19 women, 9 men and one boy. They were rushed to two nearby hospitals.

And yes, the driver, identified as Mr. Thitikorn Onlert, 34, fled the scene after the accident.

The bus, operated by Cherd Chai Tour Co, left northeastern Ubon Ratchathani province at 6pm on Sunday for Bangkok. Land and transport official based in Ayutthaya province said that the GPS system on the bus showed the bus was cruising at an average speed of about 70 kph.

Police said that the driver would have his driving license permanently seized so he would not be able to drive a bus again.

Meanwhile, two people were burned to death when a car they were travelling in caught fire after hitting a roadside tree in Muang district of Phitsanulok in the early hours of Monday.

The fatal crash occurred on Highway 126 at Ban Krang intersection in tambon Plai Chumphon shortly after midnight, said Pol Capt Anuwat Wattanakornkarun, deputy investigation chief at Muang police station.

Three fire trucks were called to the scene to combat the fire that had engulfed a Toyota car. Firemen took more than 20 minutes to extinguish the flames.

The driver and a female passenger were found burned beyond recognition inside the car. Rescue workers retrieved them from the wreckage.

Police believed the car might have been travelling at high speed or the driver might have dozed off before the car skidded off the road and slammed into the tree. They were investigating the exact cause of the fatal crash.

By Chinnawat Singha and Sunthorn Pongpao