School bus crash in Mae Sot leaves teen critically injured
A horrifying car crash that saw a school bus plough into an electricity pole and a roadside stall in Mae Sot, Tak province, left a 14 year old boy critically injured. The 57 year old driver, Aminullah, admitted to falling asleep at the wheel after consuming heart medication and cold medicine.
The incident occurred on the main road passing through the Mae Pa community and morning market area near a road curve, where a fried chicken stall and a restaurant were severely damaged.
The incident took place today, January 23, around 8am. Upon being alerted about the incident, Phittayakorn Phetcharat, the officer in charge at Mae Sot Police Station, along with other police officers and the Phitsanulok Kan Rescue Foundation, rushed to the scene.
The area, bustling with activity during the morning hours, bore the brunt of the crash, with a fried chicken stall and a restaurant crushed under the impact.
The school bus involved in the accident was a Mitsubishi pick-up bearing the registration number บน-6996. It was found crashed into a high-voltage electricity pole, with the front of the vehicle severely damaged.
Aminullah, the driver, was found inside the vehicle, showing minor injuries and appeared to be disoriented and sleepy. Rescuers quickly removed him from the vehicle as smoke billowed from the engine due to the impact of the electricity pole.
In the back of the vehicle, rescuers found a 14 year old boy, known only as A (real name withheld), sprawled unconscious. He had suffered severe injuries to his head and chest due to the impact of the vehicle’s glass and was quickly rushed to Mae Sot Hospital, reported KhaoSod.
According to Aminullah, he had taken several doses of his regular heart medication and added cold medicine due to feeling unwell that morning. He had picked up eight students that morning, dropping seven at a school near the border before proceeding to drop the last student at a school in the Mae Sot community.
As he approached the curve in the road, he suddenly felt drowsy and blacked out, waking up only after the vehicle had crashed into the fried chicken stall and the electricity pole.
Bua Phad, the 57 year old owner of the fried chicken stall, was left shaken by the incident. She was preparing chicken with her two assistants when the vehicle crashed into her stall. Bua and her assistants managed to escape without injury. This was the first such incident in the many years she had been running her business in the area.
Following the incident, the police summoned Aminullah for further investigation and arranged for a meeting between Bua, the chicken stall owner, and the electricity department to negotiate the damages. The incident serves as a chilling reminder of the catastrophic consequences that drowsiness while driving can lead to.
In related news, 25 people were injured in a school bus and pickup truck collision in Pathum Thani, with victims were promptly taken to nearby hospitals.
