This morning, October 2, the driver of a bus that caught fire in Thailand has surrendered himself to the authorities.
On October 1, a fire that started on a fifty-year-old bus that was transporting twenty pupils and three teachers into Bangkok killed everyone inside.
All field trips nationwide were halted in the wake of the disaster, and officials promised to look into why the single-decker bus, which was carrying 44 students and teachers, caught fire so quickly when a tire blew on Tuesday, trapping the occupants inside.
On Wednesday, October 2, forensic officials laboured to identify the remains of the children who perished in an accident that has once again taken Thailand by surprise.
Tragic details about the incident have surfaced, including accounts of elementary school students cowering in the arms of young instructors or at the rear of the bus as the fire engulfed the vehicle because they were unable to escape through the emergency doors.
Returned late on Tuesday night to his village of Uthai Thani, northern Thailand, one distraught student cried over and again, “he didn’t come back with me,” while his mother gave him a hug. His younger brother had died on the bus.
After leaving the scene at first, the bus driver turned himself in to the police on Wednesday.
Along with promises to stop similar incidents from happening again, ministers announced that he had been detained and charged with negligence and dangerous driving.
In the meantime, in remembrance of the 20 elementary pupils and three instructors lost in the tragedy, offerings of flowers, milk, and snacks have been left at the scene of the disaster.
Remember that on Tuesday at around 12:20 p.m., one of the front tires on a bus transporting instructors and children from Wat Khao Phraya Sangkaram School in Uthai Thai blew out, setting the bus on fire. The Pathum Thani Vibhavadi Road is where the accident happened.
The damaged Mercedes vehicle and the burned-out bus were taken from the scene for additional examination on Wednesday at nine in the morning.
Based on preliminary findings, the bus had many CNG petrol tanks installed and had undergone unauthorised modifications. Officials from the Department of Land Transport, the Department of Energy, and numerous other authorities will also inspect the bus.
At the unfortunate school, an emergency operations centre has been established in the interim.
The original idea, according to Uthai Thani governor Theerapat Khachamat, was to transport the victims’ parents to the Muang area of the province.
But he added that DNA samples were being taken at the school and that the police had worked with the evidence collection team on this. The samples will be sent to the forensic unit at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok after the DNA collection is finished.
Parents can deliver their samples directly to the hospital on the third floor of the Forensic Medicine building if they live in or close to Bangkok.
Since the condition of the bodies makes it unclear how long the autopsy would take, it was unclear as of the time of publication when the deceased’s bodies will be moved to Uthai Thani.
On the other hand, the injured are being returned to Uthai Thani.
Mother of a trainee teacher and her young kid, Sunthorn Piankasiwit, 50, who is thought to have perished in the fire, sobbed as she spoke about how she never thought her daughter and grandchild would experience such a sorrow. When the identities of the victims are known, she expressed that even though she is inconsolable, she still hopes her daughter and grandchild are not among the dead.
