13 students, 2 teachers killed in Thai bus crash - News and Weather For The Quad Cities -

13 students, 2 teachers killed in Thai bus crash - News and Weather For The Quad Cities -

BANGKOK (AP) - A double-decker tour bus carrying students on a school
trip to the beach crashed Friday into a truck in eastern Thailand,
killing 15 people and injuring more than 30 others, police said.


The fatalities included 13 children, between the ages of 10 and 15, and two teachers, said police Lt. Col. Anukarn Thammavijarn.


The bus was carrying about 60 girls from a school
in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima city for a daytrip in the seaside town
of Pattaya. As it drove along a downhill road in the early morning
darkness, it lost control and slammed into an 18-wheeler truck that was
in front of it, Anukarn said.


After making impact, the bus spun around and
slipped off the shoulder of the road. Pictures from the crash site in
Prachinburi province, near their departure site, showed the windows had
shattered on both levels of the bus.


Police were searching for the driver, who fled the
scene, and were investigating whether the brakes had failed or if the
driver had dozed off at the wheel.


"We suspect there might have been a problem with
the brakes, because the bus looked old," Anukarn said. "But we're not
ruling out the possibility that the driver might have been asleep."


Another double-decker bus carrying male students
from the same school was following the girls' bus but not involved in
the accident.


Road accidents are common in Thailand, where safety
standards are poor and road rules are rarely enforced. Last year, more
than 8,600 people died in accidents on Thai roads.