Sixteen pupils injured in schoolbus crash in Thailand

Sixteen pupils were injured, three of them seriously, when a school bus veered off a road in Thailand.

The minivan was carrying 16 youngsters to schools in Nan province when it careened off the pavement and tumbled onto the overgrown roadside in Nan province on July 4 morning.

Police Lieutenant Kittipong Panyamoon of the Mueang Nan Police Station said police received a report at 7:40 am.

He said: 'From the inspection of the scene, it was found that the vehicle was a school bus with a license plate from Nan, driven by Mr Wasan Khamwang, entering Nan City.

'There were 16 students. One person was seriously injured and 15 were slightly injured, including the driver. The cause is under investigation.'

Dr Wasan Kaewwi, Director of Nan Hospital where the wounded were transported, said three people suffered serious injuries.

He said: 'One student's heart stopped beating at the scene. Officers performed CPR and revived her, and she is currently being treated in the ICU.

'Another student and the driver both had head injuries from slamming on the bus windows.'

Police said no other vehicles were involved in the crash, adding the driver, Wasan, may have fainted at the steering wheel.

The schoolbus has been towed, and investigations into the accident were ongoing.

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.