LATEST UPDATE BY AFP AT 10:49 AM
An accident occurred in Prachin Buri, Thailand, early on 26 February, when a tour bus on an educational field trip overturned while descending Khao San Tone mountain in Na Di district.
The incident involved a convoy of three buses transporting a total of 129 passengers from Phon Charoen district in Bueng Kan to Rayong province. The journey began at 5:00 pm on 25 February.
At approximately 3:20 am, the third bus lost control on a curve along Highway 304, resulting in severe damage and 18 fatalities.
“There were 17 people found dead at the scene and one more later died in hospital,” said Police Lieutenant Colonel Siwapass Phuripatchaiboonchu.
“We have questioned the driver and he said the brakes failed as the bus went down the hill.”
A total of 49 people were on board when the bus crashed, according to the authority.
Emergency responders, including local police and rescue teams, quickly arrived at the scene, rushing the injured to Nadi Hospital and Kabinburi Hospital for urgent medical care.
Thailand has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with around 20,000 people killed every year according to the World Health Organization.
Unsafe vehicles and poor driving are major factors contributing to the high toll.
In October, a school bus crashed and caught fire in a Bangkok suburb, killing 23 people – most of them children — in the kingdom’s deadliest road accident in a decade.
© Agence France-Presse