Thai police arrest driver and work to identify victims of school bus fire that killed 23

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai police arrested the driver of a bus carrying young students and teachers that caught fire and killed 23 in suburban Bangkok, as families arrived in the capital Wednesday to help identify their loved ones.

The bus carrying six teachers and 39 students in elementary and junior high school was traveling from Uthai Thani province, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Bangkok, for a school trip in Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces Tuesday. The fire started while the bus was on a highway north of the capital and spread so quickly many were unable to escape.

Trairong Phiwpan, head of the police forensic department, said 23 bodies were recovered from the bus. The recovery work and confirmation of the total dead had been delayed earlier because the burned vehicle, which was fueled with natural gas, remained too hot to enter for hours.

The families were driven from Uthai Thani in vans to the forensic department at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok on Wednesday to provide DNA samples for the identification process. Kornchai Klaiklung, assistant to the Royal Thai Police chief, told reporters the forensics team was working as fast as it could to identify the victims.

The driver, identified by the police as Saman Chanput, surrendered Tuesday evening several hours after the fire. Police said they have charged him with reckless driving causing deaths and injuries, failing to stop to help others and failing to report the accident.

The driver told investigators he was driving normally until the bus lost balance at its front right tire, hit another car and scraped a concrete highway barrier, causing sparks that ignited the blaze, Chayanont Meesati, deputy regional police chief, told reporters.

The driver said he ran to grab a fire extinguisher from another bus that was traveling on the same trip but could not put out the fire, and ran away because he panicked, Chayanont said.

Police said they are investigating whether the bus company followed all safety standards.

In an interview with public broadcaster Thai PBS, bus company owner Songwit Chinnaboot said the bus was inspected for safety twice a year as required and that the gas cylinders had passed safety standards. He also said he would compensate the victims’ families as best as he could.

Three students are hospitalized, and the hospital said two of them were in serious condition. A 7-year-old girl suffered burns on her face, and a surgeon said doctors were doing their best to try to save her eyesight.