Shaken teacher recounts Thai school bus fire horror

A shaken teacher stands at the roadside after escaping a bus fire in which at least 10 children are believed to have been burned alive in Thailand today.

Speaking in the video the teacher says: ‘We are from Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School in Uthai Thani with three buses.

‘The incident occurred on the second bus.'

A driver of one of the school vehicles in the convoy told local media that he saw the front wheel of the bus explode before flames appeared.

The coach was carrying kids from the Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School in Uthai Thani province when it caught fire on a road in Pathum Thani province on the outskirts of Bangkok at around 12:38 pm local time.

Dramatic footage shows flames engulfing the entire vehicle as firefighters battled to put out the inferno.

Officials said at least 10 children were killed. They said they were in Grade 3, making them around nine or ten years old.

Pictures from the scene showed their charred corpses in the burned-out vehicle. Firemen took some of the children who were able to escape the blaze into a nearby building, where they were seen being counted.

Rescue workers said that at least 19 out of the 42 passengers, including teachers and pupils have been rescued, while others remained missing.

The cause of the fire was under investigation and police have cordoned off the area.