At least 32 people died and more than 20 others were injured late Monday when a bus careered off a hillside road and into a ravine in Tak province, police told AFP.
Thailand’s roads are among the world’s deadliest and accidents are common, especially on buses travelling late at night.
“The toll is now at 27 dead and 24 injured — they are severely injured from what I can see,” police captain Sittichai Panyasong of Mae Tho district in Tak province said, revising up an earlier toll.
Several passengers subsequently died at the hospital, bringing the number of those killed to at least 32.
The accident took place at around 8:40 pm in Tak, which borders Myanmar, as several buses ferried Thai local government workers to neighbouring provinces for a field trip.
“The brakes failed as the bus came downhill on a hilly road and it crashed through the concrete barrier and fell into 150 metre-deep ravine,” Sittichai added.
The victims are mainly believed to be local government officials, but a child was also among the injured, he said.
A spokeswoman at a local hospital, declining to be named, confirmed the death toll at 27 adding more than 20 were injured and that she too believed there were children on board, but could not say if any were among the dead.
Thailand’s roads are among the most dangerous in the world.
A recent report by the World Health Organization said Thailand saw 38.1 road deaths per 100,000 people in 2010 – behind only the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and the South Pacific island of Niue.
