PHUKET police continued their hunt today for the driver of the tour bus that overturned yesterday on Patong Hill, killing one man and injuring scores of others.
Police Superintendent Colonel Arayapan Pukbuakao of Patong's Kathu station revealed that even the owner of the bus company did not have a copy of the man's driving licence, or other essential information of any sort.
''I am angry,'' Colonel Arayapan said. ''We have a serious bus crash in which the company involved cannot tell us anything about the driver, yet he has been working for them for three months.''
Phuketwan reporter Sert Tongdee interviewed survivors at the scene of the big Phuket crash yesterday. One woman who had chatted to the driver on the trip said the driver's name was Yongyoot, with ''Nuan'' as his nickname. He told her he was aged 29.
Colonel Arayapan said that Khun Nuan may have stayed at the site for a while as he looked at the damage from among the vast crowd before quietly slipping away.
There was to have been a change of drivers on the long trip north to the cremation of a famous monk, Luangta Maha Bua Yannasampanno, but the relief driver called in sick. Khun Nuan decided to drive the whole way - and the tour bus ran off the road just a kilometre or so from the end of the exhausting four-day, five-night trip.
The Patong based company involved usually makes trips between Phuket and Had Yai and has offices in both places. When a Phuketwan reporter telephoned and asked the Had Yai office for a number for the Phuket office, the woman who answered put the receiver down.
The man who died in the crash was Warin Yongyut, 51. Other survivors were pinned under the bus and scores of rescuers eased them free. All were Patong people.
The route across the hill between Patong and Phuket City, Phuket's main economic lifeline, was cut for about six hours from the time of the crash on a hairpin bend descending to Patong about 8.30am.
Two people were still being treated in Patong Hospital today and six others were admitted to Vachira Hospital in Phuket City.
All were considered to be ''satisfactory.'' Spokespeople at both hospitals denied reports that one passenger had had a hand amputated after the crash.
Police Superintendent Colonel Arayapan Pukbuakao of Patong's Kathu station revealed that even the owner of the bus company did not have a copy of the man's driving licence, or other essential information of any sort.
''I am angry,'' Colonel Arayapan said. ''We have a serious bus crash in which the company involved cannot tell us anything about the driver, yet he has been working for them for three months.''
Phuketwan reporter Sert Tongdee interviewed survivors at the scene of the big Phuket crash yesterday. One woman who had chatted to the driver on the trip said the driver's name was Yongyoot, with ''Nuan'' as his nickname. He told her he was aged 29.
Colonel Arayapan said that Khun Nuan may have stayed at the site for a while as he looked at the damage from among the vast crowd before quietly slipping away.
There was to have been a change of drivers on the long trip north to the cremation of a famous monk, Luangta Maha Bua Yannasampanno, but the relief driver called in sick. Khun Nuan decided to drive the whole way - and the tour bus ran off the road just a kilometre or so from the end of the exhausting four-day, five-night trip.
The Patong based company involved usually makes trips between Phuket and Had Yai and has offices in both places. When a Phuketwan reporter telephoned and asked the Had Yai office for a number for the Phuket office, the woman who answered put the receiver down.
The man who died in the crash was Warin Yongyut, 51. Other survivors were pinned under the bus and scores of rescuers eased them free. All were Patong people.
The route across the hill between Patong and Phuket City, Phuket's main economic lifeline, was cut for about six hours from the time of the crash on a hairpin bend descending to Patong about 8.30am.
Two people were still being treated in Patong Hospital today and six others were admitted to Vachira Hospital in Phuket City.
All were considered to be ''satisfactory.'' Spokespeople at both hospitals denied reports that one passenger had had a hand amputated after the crash.
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URGENT Phuket Bus Overturns: Passengers Trapped; Patong Hill Closed; Cranes Swing in
Breaking News UPDATE Rescuers were working feverishly to free passengers trapped when a tour bus carrying about 40 people overturned on Patong Hill, blocking the island's economic lifeline for hours.
URGENT Phuket Bus Overturns: Passengers Trapped; Patong Hill Closed; Cranes Swing in
Common sense would be to prosecute the bus company! It is their responsibility.
The lack of accountability here is frightening.
Posted by VFaye on March 9, 2011 18:05