17 tourists hurt as bus crashes

PATONG: Police are still investigating the cause of a bus crash in which 17 tourists bound for Phuket FantaSea were injured last night. The driver was also injured. The bus, coming from Karon about 8 pm, went through a safety rail, hit a drain and flipped to one side, bringing down power lines and knocking over two pillars and a road sign. Pol Capt Sophon Borirak, of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that there were 15 tourists from Taiwan and four from Japan on board. The bus, which belongs to the Road Trans Travel Co, had passed the downhill mound between Phuket Simon Cabaret and Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort on the Patong-Karon road, when it failed to negotiate a curve. Thirteen of the injured tourists were ferried to Patong Hospital by ambulance and police car and the other four were taken to Bangkok Phuket Hospital.