At least four people were killed and dozens more injured on in Thailand on Sunday after a bus full of trail runners veered off a mountain road and crashed on its side several meters below, according to several local media reports. The runners were returning to the start line from a race in the area.
The bangkok post reports the bus was taking participants of the Suranaree Trail Running competition, held in the Phu Sing district of Sisaket in northeast province Thailand, back to the race’s starting point at the Wat Phrai Pattana Market Square when it went off the road as it traveled down Phanom Dongrak mountain near Phaya Kruepree cliff. The Bangkok Insight reports the bus flipped several times before coming to a stop on its side.
A rescue crew including soldiers and vehicles from Phu Sing and Khu Sang hospitals responded to the crash site. Thai PBS World, citing information posted on the Khukhan district emergency unit’s webpage, reported that several runners were trapped in the wreckage after the accident and that rescuers needed to use power tools to extract them. The injured were taken to hospitals in Phu Singh and nearby districts.
BREAKING: At least four people have been killed and 24 seriously injured when a bus carrying participants for army-organized Suranaree Trail Running fell from a steep mountain road in Si Sa Ket province’s Phu Singh district at 9.45am Sunday. #Thailand #WhatsHappeningInThailand pic.twitter.com/TtiJB1fTIn
— Khaosod English (@KhaosodEnglish) July 9, 2023
Thai PBS World initially reported that three trail runners had died in the crash and 16 people had been injured. The number of dead now stands at four, and at least 34 people were injured, the bangkok post reported. At least 30 of those hurt in the crash were “seriously injured,” the Bangkok Insight reports.
There has been no official word on the number of people who were on board the bus, or whether anyone outside the vehicle was killed or injured in the crash. What caused the vehicle to veer off the mountain road also remains unknown.
