International News

BANGKOK, (APP/AFP) – More than 60 people were
hospitalised Saturday, mostly for burns, after the engine on a
Bangkok commuter boat burst into flames and sent passengers
leaping to a nearby pier, officials said.
The crowded boat was ferrying passengers through a major
canal in the eastern outskirts of the Thai capital, which boasts
an extensive network of waterways that teem with motorised
commuter boats during rush hour.
Most of the 65 injured were later released from the
hospital, while 19 were still receiving treatment, according
to the city’s Erawan emergency medical centre.
The centre said three foreigners — two Myanmar nationals
and one Japanese — were among those injured in the accident.
Bangkok’s police commissioner Sanit Mahathavorn said two
passengers were seriously hurt by flying debris from the explosion,
which rocked the wooden boat but largely left its hull intact.
“Most of the injured passengers are suffering from burns,”
he told reporters from Wat Thepleela pier, where the accident took
place shortly after dawn.
An initial police investigation suggested the combustion was
caused by a fuel leak onboard.
“We found that gas leaked at the boat’s rear and caused an
explosion in its engine,” the officer said.