Weeping relatives and friends mourned the event Twenty children and three teachers died in a horrific bus fire in Thailand during a funeral Thursday.
White and gold coffins lined the hall of the Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam school in Lan Sak, a small town in central Thailand. Family members placed food, clothing and toys on some of them.
A representative of the Thai royal family poured water over the coffins – a Buddhist funeral ritual symbolizing purification – and placed wreaths.
Police have not yet determined the cause of Tuesday’s fire, which happened while the group was on a field trip. The bus driver, who turned himself in, has been charged with reckless driving causing deaths and injuries.
Nineteen children and three teachers survived the fire. Sixteen of them are being treated in hospital for injuries. The ages of the children on board remain unclear, but the school caters for students between the ages of three and fifteen.
Hundreds of people, including several ministers, attended the mass funeral. Among them was Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob, who distributed financial support to the families of the victims.
Authorities have conducted “merit ceremonies,” or Buddhist rituals, for those who died, the minister said.
“We have paid our respects and also prayed for the students still in the hospital for a speedy recovery,” he said.
Some residents and monks in Lan Sak stayed up on Wednesday to collect the bodies from a mortuary in the capital Bangkok.
A funeral procession was held earlier on Thursday, with families weeping as they held framed photos of the victims.
Buddhist prayers for the victims will take place over the next four days, followed by a royal cremation ceremony next week on the orders of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Across Thailand, teachers and students laid white flowers at their schools to mourn the victims of what is believed to be Thailand’s deadliest road accident in a decade.
The bus driver told investigators that the vehicle lost its balance and demolished a concrete barrier. Sparks from the collision could have caused the fire, deputy regional police chief Chayanont Meesati said on Wednesday.
The bus, which was powered by compressed natural gas, had eleven gas cylinders, although only six were allowed to be installed. The company that owned the bus told local broadcaster ThaiPBS that the vehicle met safety standards.
The Thai government has since ordered an inspection of all passenger buses equipped with compressed natural gas.
Tael Narach, the grandmother of a six-year-old victim, told Reuters on Tuesday that she “immediately fainted” when she received news of the fire from her son-in-law.
“I want justice and support (to get justice) for my grandchild,” Tael, 69, said.
