At least 20 school children dead after bus catches fire during trip

A bus full of schoolchildren has caught fire in Bangkok with more than 20 feared dead, officials and rescuers have said.

The bus was carrying 44 passengers from central Uthai Thani province for a school trip in Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces, transport minister Suriya Jungrungruengkit said.

Footage shows the bus engulfed in flames with huge plumes of black smoke pouring out as it stood on the side of the road.

The students on the bus were reported to be primary school and young secondary school age.

Three teachers and 20 students remain unaccounted for rescuer Piyalak Thinkaew said.

Interior minister Anutin Charnvirakul said officials could not yet confirm the number of fatalities because they had not finished investigating the scene.

He said the driver survived but appeared to have fled and could not yet be found.

Rescuers and officials were able to access the bus hours after the fire was put out.

Mr Piyalak said they were still unable to identify the bodies, most of which were found in the middle and back seats, leading them to assume that the fire had started at the front of the bus.

Thai media reports and rescuers said the bus was heading to Nonthaburi when the fire started around noon in Pathum Thani province, a northern suburb of the capital.

A rescuer at the scene told Mr Suriya that the fire likely started after one of the tyres exploded and the vehicle scraped against a road barrier.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra offered her condolences in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, saying the government would take care of medical expenses and compensate the victims’ families.

The patRangsit Hospital, which is located near the scene, said in a news conference that it had admitted three young girls, one of whom suffered burns to the face, mouth and eye.

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