“I collapsed when I received the call about the accident,” Anan said tearfully yesterday at the funeral of his daughter.

Pinyada Larppinyo, nine, was one of the three fatalities when a bus carrying students and teachers crashed into a pickup truck at the intersection on the Sikhiew-Chaiyaphum road in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Dan Khunthod district on Wednesday afternoon.

Nattineeporn Chantaranothai, chair of the Thai Red Cross Society’s Nakhon Ratchasima branch, yesterday visits 15 students who were injured in a road accident during a school trip on Wednesday. The young victims are receiving treatment at a hospital in the province.

The bus driver and his wife also died, and the accident injured 55 others, including Pinyada’s mother and elder brother.

Anan’s wife is a teacher at the Ban Nong Saeng School in Chaiyaphum province, which organised the educational trip to the Royal Crematorium ceremonial ground in Bangkok.

Accompanying her were her two children from another school. The accident took place while they were returning to their home province.

“I dare not tell my wife and my son about what happened to my daughter,” Anan said.

The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) has given Bt300,000 to the victims via its Chaiyaphum branch. The branch has also received more than Bt200,000 in donations for the victims and their families.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday sent his condolences to the victims and instructed the relevant authorities to provide assistance.

In addition, he demanded that schools take precautions when organising educational trips.

“It’s necessary to introduce measures to prevent accidents,” he said.

Authorities, meanwhile, have blamed the accident on the lack of traffic lights at the intersection where the tragedy occurred.

Nakhon Ratchasima Governor Wichien Channothai said the Ban Kud Muang intersection had no traffic lights or pedestrian crosswalks, and that pedestrians often walked on the road because of trees in the centre island, leading to accidents.

Wichien said there were five accidents at the same location on Wednesday alone. The governor plans to urge the provincial Highway Office to install traffic lights and remove trees blocking pedestrian movement in the area.