BANGKOK: A bus carrying young students with their teachers caught fire in suburban Bangkok on Tuesday with 25 of those on board feared dead, according to officials and rescuers.
The bus was carrying 44 passengers from central Uthai Thani province to Ayutthaya for a school trip when the fire started around noon in Pathum Thani province, a northern suburb of the capital, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungruengkit told reporters at the scene.
Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said officials could not yet confirm the number of fatalities as they have not finished investigating the scene, but based on the number of survivors, he said 25 people are feared dead. He also said the bus was still too hot for them to get inside safely.
Bodes were still inside the bus hours after the fire.
Videos posted on social media showed the entire bus being engulfed in fire with huge plumes of black smoke pouring out as it was parked on the road.
The age and other details about the students were not yet known.
A rescuer at the scene told Suriya that the fire likely started after one of the tires exploded and the vehicle scraped against a road barrier.
Rescue group Hongsakul Khlong Luang 21 posted on its Facebook page that they found at least 10 bodies on the bus.
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School bus catches fire outside Bangkok and 25 on board are feared dead, government officials say
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School bus catches fire outside Bangkok and 25 on board are feared dead, government officials say
US remains biggest ally and Europe should be more self-confident, Kallas says
BRUSSELS: European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Saturday that the United States remains Europe’s biggest ally, after the Trump administration said in a major strategy document that Europe faces “civilizational erasure” and may one day lose its status as a reliable ally. The new US National Security Strategy, posted on the White House website overnight Thursday-to-Friday, denounced the European Union as anti-democratic and Europe as lacking in self-confidence, and said the goal of the US should be “to help Europe correct its current trajectory.”
“There’s a lot of criticism, but I think some of it is also true, if you look at Europe, it has been underestimating its own power toward Russia,” Kallas said on a panel at the Doha Forum in Qatar.
“We should be more self-confident,” she said, adding that the “US is still our biggest ally.”
“I think we haven’t always seen eye to eye on different topics, but I think the overall principle is still there. We are the biggest allies and we should stick together,” Kallas said.
“There’s a lot of criticism, but I think some of it is also true, if you look at Europe, it has been underestimating its own power toward Russia,” Kallas said on a panel at the Doha Forum in Qatar.
“We should be more self-confident,” she said, adding that the “US is still our biggest ally.”
“I think we haven’t always seen eye to eye on different topics, but I think the overall principle is still there. We are the biggest allies and we should stick together,” Kallas said.
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