Tragic: The aftermath of the incident in which a school bus caught fire on the outskirts of Bangkok, killing 23 passengers. — Reuters
ON Oct 1, a school bus with 44 passengers caught fire on the outskirts of Bangkok, killing 25 people. The other 16 students and three teachers were treated at a hospital (“School bus catches fire outside Bangkok”, The Star, Oct 2; online at bit.ly/3XSQ0LT).
It was reported that the front left tyre burst and the rim caught fire, subsequently igniting the natural gas used as engine fuel. If this is true, I believe this was caused by a lack of tyre maintenance and a gas conversion kit that was poorly designed, or badly installed, or both.
Fleet operators of heavy vehicles may adhere to the SOP and have the resources to check tyre pressure at regular intervals, but others would have to rely on mechanics in tyre shops or self-service air pumps at fuel stations.
Is anyone monitoring how often tyre pressures of heavy vehicles, including buses, are being checked? This is particularly crucial for school, worker, and excursion buses.
Underinflated tyres would result in overflexing and when driven over a long distance could severely weaken the casing and generate intense heat until the tyre eventually bursts.
I suggest having tyre centres next to rest areas besides highways so that heavy vehicles can have their tyres speedily checked for pressure, cuts, and swelling by specialists; this can done for a reasonable fee and receipts issued to drivers so they can claim the expense back from the company.
On Jan 13, a bus with 28 passengers travelling on the North-South Expressway from Singa-pore to Kuala Lumpur ran over a motorcycle that was lying on the road after an earlier accident and dragged it for a few metres before the bus caught fire. Luckily, most on board managed to escape; however, a family seated right at the back of the bus who were the last to get out lost a 17-year-old girl while three other family members suffered burns.
Ironically, they were seated next to the rear emergency door, which they could have used to exit the vehicle. In panic mode, none of the passengers or crew thought of using the emergency door, recounted a survivor. Perhaps there should be safety procedure briefings before bus departures on using the emergency door and keeping seat belts on, just as they have on aircraft.
In 2016, a tour bus on the way to the airport in Taipei was engulfed in flames following an electrical short-circuit caused by overloaded electrical outlets. All 26 people on board died. The emergency door could not be used because it was locked. Since many passengers leave their shopping goods in the bus overnight, the bus company locked the emergency door overnight; it was supposed to have been unlocked before the journey began but, obviously, the driver forgot.
As an added safety feature, then, buses could be fitted with small hammers to be used for breaking window glass in an emergency.
Before embarking, I think bus passengers should check not only that the emergency exit is in good working order but also that their vehicle has the standard three fire extinguishers required – one near the driver and others at the luggage and engine compartments. And companies should ensure their drivers are trained to put out fires.
Even passengers could do it if they know how; lives could be saved and injuries avoided if everyone knows how to put out fires. Unfortunately, we hardly see passersby trying to put out fires using their own vehicles’ fire extinguishers, which are compulsory and found in all commercial vehicles.
We ought to be more prepared to prevent and contain bus fires.
YS CHAN
Kuala Lumpur
The letter writer is an Asean tourism master trainer, and tourism and transport business consultant.
