BANGKOK : A bus carrying New Year travellers plunged off one of Thailand’s highest bridges in the kingdom’s northeast, leaving at least 29 people dead, police said Friday. The accident occurred around midnight Thursday-Friday in Lom Sak district, Phetchabun province while the bus was en route to the northern province of Chiang Rai. “We suspect the bus driver fell asleep,” Major General Sukit Samana, police commander of Phetchabun province, told AFP. Twenty-eight bodies were found in the ravine and one died in hospital, he said. Several others were in a critical condition.
Two Chinese citizens were among the victims, Beijing’s official Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Chinese embassy in Bangkok, although there was no confirmation from the Thai authorities.