No fewer than thirteen persons including Malaysian tourists and a Thai indigene were on Sunday, December 20, 2015 killed in a bus crash in Thailand.
Investigators said the accident happened soon after midday in Doi Saket district 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the northern city of Chiang Mai.
An officer at Doi Saket police station who preferred anonymity told AFP: “There are now 13 dead, eight females, five males.,”
According to him, the victims were both “Chinese Malaysian and Thai” although he couldn’t give a breakdown.
In Malaysia, tour operator Chiu Travel said it had been informed by Thai authorities that 12 Malaysians and a Thai tour guide were killed. “This is a real shock. We are all very sad,” manager Terence Yung told AFP by phone from the company’s office in the southern state of Johor.
“We have also lost our tour leader. Some of the relatives are here. They are calm and sad. Some are crying. We are doing everything to help them.” Malaysia’s foreign ministry put the number of Malaysian dead at 13. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.
The ministry in a statement expressed “deepest condolences” to the family and friends of those killed. Multiple images posted online by local news outlets showed a horrific scene as rescuers battled to reach those trapped inside the smashed bus, which had come to rest in thick foliage with its roof caved in.
Some of those still inside had suffered horrific injuries. In one picture seven pieces of white sheeting had been draped to cover either bodies or body parts.
Below are some photos from the scene. (Click on any image to enlarge).
