More than 60 hospitalised as boat engine explodes in Bangkok.

 

More than 60  hospitalised as boat engine explodes in Bangkok On March 5, 20162:00 pmIn NewsComments     60 Shares 2911  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.