25 feared dead after school bus catches fire in Thailand

BANGKOK — About 25 people were feared dead in Thailand on Tuesday when a school bus carrying students and teachers on a field trip caught fire on the outskirts of the capital, Bangkok, with 16 passengers hospitalized, the government said.

Police could not immediately confirm the number of injuries or deaths, but Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters about 25 people were believed to have been killed, without elaborating.

Sixteen students and three teachers were sent to a hospital for treatment, Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said, adding that the causes of the incident were still being investigated.

Rescue workers gathered around the bus, which is believed to have been carrying students and teachers on a field trip before it caught fire. Manan Vatsyayana / AFP - Getty Images

Early images posted on social media and carried by local news outlets showed thick gray smoke pouring out of the bus, parts of which were still on fire.

The blaze was later extinguished. A Reuters photographer saw fire trucks, police and rescue vehicles parked around the blackened vehicle, with a cluster of firefighters at the entrance.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the students were on a field trip from the province of Uthai Thani, about 155 miles north of the capital.

“As a mother, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families,” she said in a post on X.