Bus Carrying Tourists Goes Out of Control Downhill

PHUKET: A bus carrying Chinese tourists on holiday on Phuket plunged out of control down Patong Hill tonight, crashing into houses and toppling a powerpole. The driver of the bus and the rider of a motorcycle wrecked in the crash were taken to Patong Hospital about 7.14pm for treatment for multiple injuries. About 10 tourists on the bus were reported to have escaped injury. The bus swerved from the descent over Patong Hill into Nanai Road, where it struck the motorcycle and the powerpole. Crashes involving buses that lose control on the descent into Patong, on Phuket's west coast, occur quite frequently. At one stage, authorities ordered buses to take longer routes around Patong Hill via Karon beach or Kamala beach when carrying passengers into Patong. It's not clear tonight whether Phuket authorities are still enforcing that order.