At least 23 people died in Thailand when a school bus carrying more than 40 students and teachers on a field trip caught fire in the outskirts of the capital Bangkok, police said on Tuesday.

At least 20 children and three teachers are feared dead after a bus carrying dozens of primary school pupils was engulfed in flames on the outskirts of Bangkok.

A school bus carrying dozens of students exploded into flames near Bangkok on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, with 13 others unaccounted for and feared dead, Thai officials said. Most of the people killed or still missing as rescue efforts proceeded Tuesday evening were children and teenagers between the ages of 6 and 16.

Thai police are investigating whether the school bus fire that killed 23 young students and teachers in suburban Bangkok was caused by negligence after filing initial charges against the driver.

The bodies of 20 children and three teachers have been recovered after a bus transporting school pupils crashed and caught fire outside Bangkok. The bus was returning to the Thai capital after a school trip to the north of the country.

Police have arrested the driver of a bus carrying young students and teachers that caught fire and killed 23 in suburban Bangkok, as families arrived to help identify their loved ones

T hai police have arrested the driver of a bus carrying young students and teachers that caught fire and killed 23 in suburban Bangkok, as families arrived in the capital Wednesday to help identify their loved ones.