A chartered bus taking teachers for a trip plunged into a roadside pond in Thai northern province of Chiang Mai, killing 17 and injuring some 30 others, Thai media reported Friday.

 

Police said the bus, carrying 48 passengers -- a tour group of teachers and their families -- was taking the teachers to Doi Inthanon mountain in central Chiang Mai for a tour when the accident occurred at 9:30 a.m. (0200 GMT) on a road in Chiang Mai' s Doi Saket district, according to a website report by news network The Nation.

 

Police said the bus was climbing the mountainous road when it lost control at a curve and overturned before plunging into the pond.

 

At least 13 teachers died inside the bus and another four died on the road to hospital, according to the Thai News Agency. Some 30 injured teachers were rushed on helicopters to nearby hospitals.

 

The bus was chartered to take teachers from eight schools in central Thai province Chantha Buri for a field trip in the northernmost province Chiang Rai, neighboring Chiang Mai. The bus left Chiang Rai at 7 a.m. (0000 GMT) to take teachers to have a tour at Doi Inthanon, a popular mountainous resort.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2007)