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BANGKOK, Dec 20 – Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday confirmed that at least 23 Thai nationals were killed when their bus crashed on a Malaysian highway in the morning.
Thani Thongpakdi, deputy permanent-secretary of the foreign ministry’s Department of Information, reported the Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur said the double-decker bus carried 34 tourists–33 Thais and one foreign tourist of unknown nationality. Twenty-three were killed in the accident which occurred around 10am.
Mr Thani said officials of the Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur rushed to the accident scene in Perak state, 300 kilometres away from the Thai border at Songkhla’s Sadoa district, and that the ministry is awaiting details of the names of the victims.
Mr Thani said 23 Thai tourists were officially confirmed dead by now and any corrected total death toll is expected within tonight, while the Consular Department has informed the victims’ families of the incident.
Meanwhile, in the latest development, Agence-France Presse (AFP) reported acting Perak state police chief Zakaria Yusof confirmed that 37 people were on board the bus and 28 were killed in Malaysia’s worst-ever coach accident.
Among them 25 were Thai tourists and three were Malaysians–the driver, co-driver and a local guide.
Nine Thais survived the accident and are now hospitalised nearby the accident scene, the police chief told AFP.
The bus reportedly hit a road divider and overturned as it departed one of Malaysia’s top tourist destinations, the Cameron Highlands, and had reached the foot of the hills.
Mr Yusof said the bus was en route to Kuala Lumpur and that he believed the tourists were to fly to Bangkok from there, adding the investigation is underway to find the cause of the accident. (MCOT online news)
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