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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Five passengers killed, 12 seriously injured after tour bus bursts into flames

    Five passengers were killed and 12 others were seriously injured after a double-decker bus heading to Bangkok burst into flames in the Ban Haet district of Khon Kaen province at around midnight today, April 13th.


    Ban Haet Investigation Police Officer Chukiat Chaiwiset revealed that the accident occurred at 12:30 AM. when a rear tire of the Bung Kan-Bangkok bus suddenly burst and caught fire while driving on the Mitrapap highway near the Nong Kham village.


    The fire quickly spread to the rear engine before engulfing the entire bus, which was reportedly carrying 33 passengers on board.

    Five passengers, including two children, were burned to death while 12 others were rushed to the nearest hospitals after suffering several serious burns. Sixteen other passengers had managed to safely escape the vehicle.

    According to a survivor, the bus was licensed under the 407 Pattana Company. It had departed from Bung Kan province on Monday evening for picking up passengers and stopped in Udon Thani and Khon Kaen before heading for Bangkok when the tragic accident occurred.


    Local police said that an investigation was underway. Survivors, including the bus driver, would also be questioned after their treatment.


    Five passengers killed, 12 seriously injured after tour bus bursts into flames in Khon Kaen early this morning - The Pattaya News

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    They couldn't evacuate 33 people before the fire took hold?

    That's a fucking worry.

  3. #3
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    those buses are furnished using inflammable plastics and fabrics.

    the emergency exits, even if they existed, were probably sealed up and the driver was probably unaware of the fire raging at the back even though he had 300 wing mirrors.

  4. #4
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    Buses in Thailand are dodgy at best. In my view some of the worst do Phichit to Bangkok...but I did ride on a bus from Bangkok to Trat years ago that was probably worse. The old Trat rattle trap was held together by rust and a few rolls of 2" tape!

  5. #5
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    If a rear tyre had burst then the driver would have known immediately and pulled to a halt. The timeline theorised is that the tyre burst, caused a fire (??!!) which spread immediately to the engine compartment and then to the body of the passenger compartment immolating the rear located passengers before they could rouse themselves from their sleep. This is implausible.

    I suspect a mechanical fault in the engine had developed but this was ignored by the driver and a rising temperature ensured some sort of detonation that engulfed and consumed the rear passenger cell immediately, and then burst the tyre.

    As ever, incompetence, negligence and dereliction will be at the heart of things but no doubt someone will invent some daft excuse.

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Driver charged in bus fire that killed 5, injured 12


    After yesterday’s horrific bus fire left 5 dead and 12 injured, the driver is now charged with reckless driving causing deaths and injuries. The tour bus ended up in flames at 12:30 am, not long after leaving the Khon Kaen bus terminal heading to Bangkok with 33 passengers on board. The bus had originated in Bung Kan and stopped in Udon Thani to add more passengers before stopping in Khon Kaen. The driver reported hearing a sound he thought was a rear tyre exploding right before the wheel caught fire. The blaze reached the engine compartment and from there quickly spread to engulf the entire bus.


    The 48 year old driver, Patsadee Kham-on from the Isan province of Maha Sarakham, was burned in the bus fire accident as well. He remains in custody today after being escorted to Khon Kaen Court for a judge to approve his detainment pending further investigation. Police are advocating that bail be refused for the driver.


    Among the victims in this crash were a 21 year old man from Sakon Nakhon, as well as a 23 year old woman from Bung Kan and 2 women from Udon Thani. One woman was 28 years old while the younger woman, 23 years old, was travelling with her 6 year old daughter who was also killed in the crash. Police advised that relatives could collect the victim’s bodies at Srinagarind Hospital’s forensic medicine department. They also directed families of the victims to the Ban Haet police station to gather documentation for claiming compensation. Procedures have started by the Office of the Insurance Commission to examine the accident and charred bus and to determine compensation.


    The cause of the bus fire has not been officially determined and experts from the Land Transport Department have a pending examination. While investigations continue, compensations from insurance is expected to be 1.5 million baht per death, plus an additional half a million baht as part of the Road Accident Victim Protection Act of 1992. The bus belongs to 407 Pattana Company, and was carrying insurance issued by Viriyah Insurance Plc.


    Driver charged in bus fire that killed 5, injured 12 | Thaiger

  7. #7
    I'm in Jail

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    When exiting, the passengers probably did what many Thai people do at the bottom of escalators : stop right there and hold up everyone behind them.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    It looks like a fairly modern bus. Too quick to charge the driver imo. The maintenance records of the bus should be checked. Tires aren't supposed to just grenade like that.


  9. #9
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backspin View Post
    Too quick to charge the driver imo.
    You'd probably need to have been fluent in Thai and present at the interviews to be able to say that and have it mean something.

  10. #10
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    the driver is just a paid monkey ordered to "drive the bus to its destination or lose your job"

    anyone who has pulled up at traffic lights alongside one of these bling festooned death traps and seen the tyres will know that 9 times out of 10 they will be bald, with tears and defects clearly visible.

    a rear tyre on this bus may have burst and shredded with strips of rubber flying off into the engine compartments where they may have severed a fuel line.

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    anyone who has pulled up at traffic lights alongside one of these bling festooned death traps and seen the tyres will know that 9 times out of 10 they will be bald, with tears and defects clearly visible.

    a rear tyre on this bus may have burst and shredded with strips of rubber flying off into the engine compartments where they may have severed a fuel line.
    That's quite some stretch and highly unlikely to have been the cause.

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    a rear tyre on this bus may have burst and shredded with strips of rubber flying off into the engine compartments where they may have severed a fuel line.
    Was my thinking too
    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    drive the bus to its destination
    And on time

    Buy yourself some pills

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat Fondles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    those buses are furnished using inflammable plastics and fabrics.

    the emergency exits, even if they existed, were probably sealed up and the driver was probably unaware of the fire raging at the back even though he had 300 wing mirrors.
    Does not look to have 300 wing mirrors.


  14. #14
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    the driver is just a paid monkey ordered to "drive the bus to its destination or lose your job"

    anyone who has pulled up at traffic lights alongside one of these bling festooned death traps and seen the tyres will know that 9 times out of 10 they will be bald, with tears and defects clearly visible.

    a rear tyre on this bus may have burst and shredded with strips of rubber flying off into the engine compartments where they may have severed a fuel line.
    It's most likely a diesel and diesel has a high flash point.
    Maybe it was carry something flammable that caught fire. Come to think of it , these busses have composite cladding and the wheel well is hugging the tire so close. Maybe a disaster waiting to happen . For this many ppl to die is just strange.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post

    Originally Posted by Backspin (Five passengers killed, 12 seriously injured after tour bus bursts into flames) Too quick to charge the driver imo.
    You'd probably need to have been fluent in Thai and present at the interviews to be able to say that and have it mean something.
    Driver is easiest for the police, that's why they run away when they can...

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post


    a rear tyre on this bus may have burst and shredded with strips of rubber flying off into the engine compartments where they may have severed a fuel line.
    Try as I might Tax, I cannot recall rubber having a penetrative effect akin to shrapnel. And, notwithstanding any unconventional omnibus fabrication techniques adopted by the Thai, I don't quite think it is standard practice to have a conduit between a wheel well and the engine compartment together with its fuel lines. And, as mentioned by another, buses usually run on diesel so if there is a conflagration due to a fuel tank ignition then the temperature in that compartment must have been extraordinarily high.

    We need to hear evidence of the passengers who may have been awake before the incident.

  17. #17
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Troy View Post
    Driver is easiest for the police, that's why they run away when they can...
    That, of course, does not undermine my observation in the slightest.

    Other reasons for running away are being guilty of lack of care and/or being completely off their tits.

  18. #18
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    1. tyres are not the soft bouncy kiddie play rubber that in your ignorance you fondly imagine them to be, they consist of a combination of synthetic rubbers and a steel carcass all of which can detach with great force when flung off a rotating wheel when the tyre is damaged and slice through any pipework in the near vicinity. e.g. brake pipes or fuel lines.


    2. though not a volatile liquid, brake fluid is inflammable. modern brake fluids are based on polyalkylene glycols. thus, if during a collision, brake fluid should splash on an exhaust system at 400 deg C or over, it will ignite spontaneously.

    3.diesel liquid is stable, but in vapour form, it is highly inflammable. and the vapourization rate increases with temperature and can easily explode when mixed with air.

    4. the engine may have been fuelled with highly inflammable natural gas.

    An air-conditioned, gas-fuelled bus burst into flames after a short circuit in the engine compartment and was destroyed on inbound Sukhumvit Road in the Ekkamai area on Tuesday morning.
    Bus exploded in flames after engine shorted out


    s.a.
    Try as I might

    i suggest you keep trying.
    Last edited by taxexile; 18-04-2021 at 03:50 PM.

  19. #19
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    So, despite trying, unsuccessfully, to reinforce your implausible postulations, Tax, the only issue you have in fact raised and probably in the mind of most others is the possibility that the omnibus ran on gas.

    Rubber shrapnel piercing the engine compartment from a wheel well and brake fluid lines rupturing and spilling out on exhaust outlets to combust with the ferocity of a phosphorus bomb consuming the passenger compartment in seconds remain far-fetched.

  20. #20
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    s.a.
    Rubber shrapnel piercing the engine compartment from a wheel well and brake fluid lines rupturing and spilling out on exhaust outlets to combust with the ferocity of a phosphorus bomb consuming the passenger compartment in seconds remain far-fetched.
    i understand that as an unvaccinated person of advancing age concerned about becoming infected with the chinese virus and hence self isolating and being confined to barracks as you are at the moment it must be incredibly frustrating, hence your endless nitpicking on this forum, but the most obvious reason for the fire was the release of some inflammable material in or around the engine compartment and its subsequent ignition.

    The driver reported hearing a sound he thought was a rear tyre exploding right before the wheel caught fire. The blaze reached the engine compartment and from there quickly spread to engulf the entire bus.
    if indeed a tyre did burst then it is more than conceivable that some fragments of steel reinforced rubber were spun off and penetrated either the engine compartment or fuel/brake lines in or near the wheel well releasing combustible liquid or vapour, and combined with the airflow through that area any flames will have quickly spread.

    i rest my case. perhaps you should return to your natural home on the brexit thread where you can happily expend your excess anger.

  21. #21
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    I've had a lot of "hands-on" experience with cars.

    A tyre which has ruptured and has had part of the steel belt come off will sometimes retain one end still attached. Steel belts don't part compand with a tryre easily. It will then rotate and flay with its steel belt anything nearby, also reach outwards and backwards a bit further than one might initially expect.

    It happened on my car once, to a lesser extent, and I can't help but agree that it may well be possible that it flayed a fuel line, spraying fuel into a mist which then ignited from sparks generated by the still rotating steel belt.

    The interior of modern buses is plastic crap and inflammable.
    Last edited by Latindancer; 18-04-2021 at 05:07 PM.

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    1. tyres are not the soft bouncy kiddie play rubber that in your ignorance you fondly imagine them to be, they consist of a combination of synthetic rubbers and a steel carcass all of which can detach with great force when flung off a rotating wheel when the tyre is damaged and slice through any pipework in the near vicinity. e.g. brake pipes or fuel lines.


    2. though not a volatile liquid, brake fluid is inflammable. modern brake fluids are based on polyalkylene glycols. thus, if during a collision, brake fluid should splash on an exhaust system at 400 deg C or over, it will ignite spontaneously.

    3.diesel liquid is stable, but in vapour form, it is highly inflammable. and the vapourization rate increases with temperature and can easily explode when mixed with air.

    4. the engine may have been fuelled with highly inflammable natural gas.
    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    if indeed a tyre did burst then it is more than conceivable that some fragments of steel reinforced rubber were spun off and penetrated either the engine compartment or fuel/brake lines in or near the wheel well releasing combustible liquid or vapour, and combined with the airflow through that area any flames will have quickly spread.
    Sure it's conceivable but then so are a great many things. What you are describing is highly unlikely to have happened.

    Not only would tire would fragments / shrapnel / whatever you want to call it have had to improbably penetrate the engine bay and improbably sever a fuel-line but then also somehow cause a spark sufficient to ignite a fuel source that requires significant pressure or sustained flame to ignite.

    Also buses have air-brakes not fluid and the odds of it having been natural gas fuelled? Highly unlikely. The BMTA only relatively recently started using gas-fuelled buses for limited commuter routes, I've never seen a single inter-city coach on this kind on gas.
    Last edited by AntRobertson; 19-04-2021 at 10:06 AM.

  23. #23
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    Indeed, Ant, sensible words but I fear with Tax they fall on stony ground. Poor chap has succumbed to Northern Tykeitis and is back in the arms of the delusion his current bolthole of Buggersthwaite is an Elysian field conferring wisdom and perspicacity whereas we more intelligent and knowledgeable know him to be spouting fantastical bollocks more suited to the hack drivel produced by the American TV networks.

  24. #24
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    ant
    Not only would tire would fragments / shrapnel / whatever you want to call it have had to improbably penetrate the engine bay and improbably sever a fuel-line but then also somehow cause a spark sufficient to ignite a fuel source that requires significant pressure or sustained flame to ignite.
    1.
    VIDEO: Bus explosion eyewitness - "The rear tyre exploded, like a bomb going off" | Your Local Guardian

    2. https://www.ustires.org/sites/defaul...ckBusTires.pdf

    Demounting and Mounting Procedures for Tubeless Truck and Bus Tires. Demounting and ... These situations can cause a tire failure, including tread/ belt separation ... If it bursts, it could be hurled into the air with explosive force resulting in serious ... internal combustion (fire) if the brake/rim/wheel components overheat.
    3.
    http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get...FULLTEXT01.pdf

    The main causes of fires in buses and coaches have been seen to be electrical faults and leakage of flammable liquids. The actual number of fires per year is an estimate, based on material from the reported cases and on information from those responsible for insurance assessment of fires in vehicles.
    a quick google search tells me that a fire from a burst tyre can penetrate both the passenger compartment and the engine compartment and that a tyre burst will result in an explosive decompression that can eject debris with great force. if this occurs on the inside wheel of a 4 wheel axle then penetration of the engine compartment with damage to lines and release of inflammable liquids or vapours is a distinct possibility .

  25. #25
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    Demounting and Mounting Procedures for Tubeless Truck and Bus Tires. Demounting and ... These situations can cause a tire failure, including tread/ belt separation ... If it bursts, it could be hurled into the air with explosive force resulting in serious ... internal combustion (fire) if the brake/rim/wheel components overheat.
    Quote Originally Posted by taxexile View Post
    The main causes of fires in buses and coaches have been seen to be electrical faults and leakage of flammable liquids. The actual number of fires per year is an estimate, based on material from the reported cases and on information from those responsible for insurance assessment of fires in vehicles.
    You're selectively cut 'n pasting and conflating a number of separate passages, warnings, and risk factors there -- for e.g. risk of tire explosion from overinflation, use of nitrogen to help reduce the risk of internal combustion if the brake/rim/wheel components overheat, and electrical fires.

    It still doesn't support your contention.

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