13 dead in bus crash in northern Thailand

As many as 16 Malaysians are believed to have been killed in a bus accident in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

A tourist bus carrying 25 passengers plunged off a roadside pit in northern Thailand’s Chian Mai province Sunday morning, killing 13 people, Xinhua News reported, citing the Chinese Consulate General in Chiang Mai.

“Initial reports show there are 14 people injured and 12 people have died”, an officer at Doi Saket police station told AFP, asking not to be named.

He added that the victims were both “Chinese Malaysian and Thai” but could not give a breakdown as investigations were continuing.

The Chinese Consulate General in Chiang Mai is now trying to confirm the casualties.

Calls to the Malaysian embassy in Bangkok went unanswered.

Some of those still inside had suffered horrific injuries.

A 2015 World Health Organization report, titled the Global Status Report on Road Safety, found that Thailand came in second after war-torn Libya for road fatalities.

Fatal road crashes are common in Thailand.

The Thai driver of the bus had reportedly hit another vehicle in Mae Khajan area of Chiang Rai and tried to escape.