2024 Lam Luk Ka Bus Crash in Thailand: 20 Students and 3 Teachers Dead

At least 23 people, most of them students of a school in countryside Thailand, did not make it home after the bus they were in caught fire while returning home from a field trip. 

According to the Bangkok Post, 20 out of the 39 students and half of the six teachers on board perished after a bus propelled by compressed natural gas, also called a natural gas vehicle (NGV), burst into flames in Pathum Thani near Bangkok on Tuesday, local time (Oct. 1). 

The rest of the people inside the bus, including the driver, were able to get out of the burning vehicle, though some have sustained injuries. 

Authorities added that two others remained unaccounted for.

Police Vows to Investigate Bus Fire

Local police said in a press conference that the bus driver, 48-year-old Saman Chanput, has since been arrested and charged after allegedly fleeing the scene when he attempted to put out the fire. 

Acting Thai National Police chief Gen. Kittirat Phanphet said that the surviving teachers told officers the fire quickly spread through the bus after an explosion, which they believed was triggered by a spark from one of the front tires that burst, igniting one of the canisters.

The general added that police would also press charges against the parties responsible after discovering 11 natural gas canisters inside the bus when it was only permitted to install six. 

Thai PM Reduced to Tears When Asked About Bus Fire

In the aftermath of the incident, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra wrote on X (formerly Twitter) her condolences to the families of the deceased teachers and students and promised that the government would pay for medical expenses and other compensations for the victims. She also ordered Transport Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Interior Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit to visit the scene.

ดิฉันทราบถึงเหตุการณ์ไฟไหม้รถบัสจากอุทัยธานี ที่โดยสารนักเรียนเข้ามาทัศนศึกษาในกรุงเทพฯ และเกิดอุบัติเหตุบริเวณถนนวิภาวดีรังสิต ซึ่งทำให้มีผู้เสียชีวิตและผู้บาดเจ็บ

ในฐานะแม่ ดิฉันขอแสดงความเสียใจอย่างสุดซึ้งต่อครอบครัวผู้บาดเจ็บและเสียชีวิต

ในฐานะรัฐบาล…

— Ing Shin (@ingshin) October 1, 2024

The Pattaya Mail reported that Paetongtarn, the daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a mother of two young children, nodded in affirmation and was visibly emotional when reporters asked about the incident following a cabinet meeting in Bangkok. 

Pictures and clips of her reduced to tears as she made her way to visit the survivors at one of the hospitals where they were being treated circulated widely on social media.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that the bodies of the victims were returned late Wednesday (Oct. 2) to Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam, the Buddhist temple school in Uthai Thani province where the victims taught and attended. Their respective families received them, and funeral services were to begin later this week.