Lucky escape for children after pickup crashes into school bus, driver dies

Several school children and their bus driver escaped relatively unscathed after a pickup vehicle crashed into their school bus this morning. The pickup driver was killed in the collision in the Bang Khan district in southern Thailand.

The two vehicles collided in front of Ban Lam Nao post office in tambon Ban Lam Nao.

Police Captain Bunlue Mian-o, the deputy investigation chief at Bang Khan, revealed the incident occurred at 7.30am today.

Emergency services dashed to the scene and discovered a yellow bus on its way to Kanchanasuksa Pattanakarn School in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The bus suffered serious damage to the front and driver’s side of the vehicle.

Twelve children of kindergarten and primary age were traveling on the bus at the time. The children were said to be shaken by the incident.

It was reported that seven pupils and the 58 year old bus driver, Sunan Rattanakhot, suffered slight injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital.

A pickup truck with Trang licence plates was completely written off as a result of the collision. The damaged vehicle lay 30 metres away from the bus. The driver was dead and trapped inside.

A hydraulic jack was used to cut open the door of the pickup so emergency services could get to the body, reported to be a man from Krabi, Ekkachai Khwanbut.

Police revealed that the driver of the pickup lost control of his speeding vehicle and it crossed onto the opposite side of the road and collided with the school bus.

The crash is just one of a number of incidents involving pickup vehicles this year. Three weeks ago a pickup driver killed a road sweeper in Bangkok. Two months ago a pickup drove into a noodles bar injuring 17 people.

Three months ago the driver of a pickup crashed into a motorbike and sidecar killing a ten year old child and injuring another five people.

*Picture courtesy of Bangkok Post