Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai Transport Ministry has been taking measures to improve the safety for passengers using public transportation after the school bus fire that killed 20 students and three teachers on October 1.
Of the measures, the Department of Land Transport (DLT) will inspect all passenger buses equipped with compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinders to ensure that they pass fire safety standards.
Thailand will issue safety standards for buses that are used for school trips. Meanwhile, teachers and students will be further provided with training on how to use safety equipment on buses.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said that a special committee comprising experts from the Engineering Institute of Thailand will work on urgent and long-term measures to improve safety for all types of vehicles and reduce the severity of accidents.
The committee will also examine the bus in the accident and its safety equipment, as well as the cause of the fire.
A bus carrying six teachers and 39 young students in elementary and junior high schools caught fire and killed 23 in suburban Bangkok on October 1.
The bus was traveling from Uthai Thani province, about 300 kilometers north of Bangkok, for a school trip in Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces. The fire started while the bus was on a highway north of the capital and spread so quickly, making many unable to escape./.
