Volunteer workers help pull an injured passenger through the window of a crashed bus in Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, Tuesday, July 3, 2012. Police said the bus heading to a Thai resort island blew a tire and crashed into an electricity pole, killing 10 people and wounding 17. AP PHOTO/DAILY NEWS
BANGKOK—An Indian tourist was among 10 passengers who died and several other foreigners were seriously injured after a bus plowed into an electricity pylon in southern Thailand on Tuesday, police said.
The tourist bus, traveling from Bangkok to the popular resort of Phangan, hit a traffic island in the early hours of the morning, slewed into the electricity pole and flipped over, according to initial police findings.
Television footage showed locals carrying the injured and dead from the mangled wreck in Kanchanadit district of Surat Thani province, 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of the capital.
“Ten people died at the scene, five men and five women, and 17 people were wounded,” Colonel Suriya Nakkeao, superintendent of Kanchanadit district police, told AFP.
“I can confirm that one Indian tourist has been killed,” he added.
A Surat Thani tourist police officer confirmed the death toll, adding that “two British, two Indians and two Luxembourg nationals” were among the 17 people injured, all of whom were in a “serious condition.”
Phangan is a resort island in the Gulf of Thailand neighboring Koh Samui and draws thousands of backpackers to its famous full moon parties.
Thailand’s tourist-friendly image has recently been tarnished by a series of tourist deaths, including the murder of an Australian tour operator in Phuket on June 20 in an attempted robbery.
Her death came less than a week after two Canadian sisters were found dead in their hotel room on nearby Phi Phi island, showing signs of an extreme toxic reaction.
Thai authorities have promised a crackdown on criminals and rogue traders in attempt to reassure tourists of the kingdom’s safety.