A bus traveling from Vientiane to Pakse crashed into a tree on 26 January in Phudao Chengyai village, Lakonpheng district, Salavanh, resulting in 43 reported injuries and one fatality, according to Lao media.
The accident occurred at around 5 am when the bus lost control, veered off the road, and collided with a tree.
On Sunday morning, Lao state media reported that 29 passengers were foreigners, though their nationalities have not been confirmed. The following day, Lao Security News announced that one passenger had died, but their identity has not been revealed.
Among the injured, 17 passengers were sent to hospitals in Champasack, while 26 critically injured individuals were transferred to a hospital in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.
Among the 26 foreigners admitted to Ubon Ratchatthani between 12:33 pm and 7:40 pm on Sunday were 12 Israelis, five French, two Taiwanese, two Lao, two British, one Belgian, one Portuguese, and one Spanish. The majority were hospitalized in PRINC hospital, while the others were admitted in Sunpasitthiprason and Ubonrak hospitals.
According to Thai media, the first injured person to arrive in Thailand was a 33-year-old Vietnamese woman, the wife of the bus driver. The bus driver, who had also sustained severe injuries, arrived later and was admitted to the emergency room. The bus, owned by the driver’s family, had been in operation for five months.
Meanwhile, an Israeli news outlet reported that a total of 13 Israeli nationals were injured, five of them severely. The same outlet also claimed that five locals were killed, not just one. However, The Laotian Times has been unable to verify this information with local authorities.