12 die in bus crash

KANCHANABURI (AFP) – Twelve Thais were killed and eight seriously hurt when a tour bus traveling to a Buddhist temple near the border with Burma plunged into a deep ravine, police said today. The bus, carrying 45 mainly elderly people from Bangkok, left the road and plunged 50 meters before coming to a stop in Kanchanaburi province’s Sangkla district early yesterday. “Eleven people died instantly, while another died later in hospital,” a senior provincial police officer said. “Another 30 were injured, eight of them seriously,” he added. Police said they were searching for the driver and two assistant drivers who fled the scene after the accident.