Train smashes into double-decker bus in Thailand, killing 3

This image taken from close circuit television video provided by TPBS shows the moment a passenger train, left in background, hit a tourist bus, right, at a crossing in Nakhon Pathom province, west of Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, April 3, 2016. AP

BANGKOK — A train smashed into a double-decker bus carrying Thai tourists at an unguarded railway crossing in central Thailand on Sunday, with local media reporting that three people were killed and more than two dozen injured.

Security video showed the bus moving slowly across the tracks and stopping momentarily before it is hit by the train. A car had crossed the tracks safely from the opposite direction a few seconds earlier.

Soon after the accident, the driver of another bus behind the one that was hit is seen getting out and running toward the crash. Another video from a camera positioned at a different angle shows the bus being hit and dragged some distance in a cloud of dust.

The Bangkok Post said that the driver of the bus was killed on the spot, and that two passengers died at a hospital. Around 30 passengers were injured.

The newspaper said the accident occurred at about 7:30 a.m. in Nakhon Pathom province, west of Bangkok. The bus was taking tourists to Samet island in Rayong province, southeast of Bangkok.

Such accidents occur often in Thailand, where many railway crossings do not have barriers. TVJ