Bangkok, Oct. 1: A school bus in Thailand with about 44 students and teachers on board caught fire on the outskirts of Bangkok. As many as 25 of them are feared dead, the government said.

About 16 students and three teachers were sent to a hospital for treatment, Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said, adding that the cause of the incident was being investigated.

The bus was carrying 44 people enroute from central Uthai Thani province to Ayutthaya for a school trip when the fire started around noon in the Pathum Thani province, a northern suburb of the capital city.

The status of the other passengers was not immediately clear. However, Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said 25 people are feared dead based on the number of survivors. The police did not immediately confirm if any of the passengers were killed.

Visuals doing the rounds on social media showed the entire bus being engulfed in a blaze with thick grey smoke pouring out. Firefighters have reached the scene to extinguish the fire and carry out rescue operations.

Minister Charnvirakul also said the bus was still too hot for rescuers to get inside safely. Bodies were allegedly still inside the bus hours after the fire was put out.

Meanwhile, a rescuer at the scene was quoted as saying that the fire likely started after one of the tires exploded and the vehicle scraped against a road barrier.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra took to X to express her condolences without providing details. “As a mother, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families,” she wrote.-Agencies