DHAKA: At least 20 people have died after a double-decker bus erupted in flames in Thailand, reports Evening Standard.

The bus, which was carrying migrant workers from Myanmar, was heading to a factory in an industrial zone near Bangkok when the fire broke out.

The blaze was reported to police around 1.30am on Friday (March 30) (7.30pm GMT Thursday) in Tak province in western Thailand.

Police Lieutenant Raewat Aiemtak said 27 people managed to escape the fire, with one of them severely burned. But those at the back of the bus were trapped and could not get off.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but Mr Raewat said the driver reported the fire started in the middle of the bus and spread quickly.

The tragedy comes a week after another fatal accident showed the continuing dangers of Thailand's roads.

On March 21, a chartered tour bus lost control on a downhill curve in Thailand's northeast and slid off the road, killing 18 people and injuring 33.

A day later, a bus on a school trip in the central province of Ayutthaya skidded in the rain and flipped, injuring 39 people.

Thailand has the second-highest rate of traffic fatalities in the world after Libya, according to World Health Organisation statistics.

BDST: 1416 HRS, MAR 30, 2018
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