The bus, owned by Nichanon Co and chartered to Anex Tour, was being driven by Aroon Yemgeua, 46. It was heading from Kamala towards Patong when it flipped, rolled off the road and down a hill, landing upside down in an entranceway below.
The crash happened when the bus, on its way from Kamala towards Patong, was hit by an overtaking Ford Fiesta car coming in the opposite direction. In an unsuccessful bid to avoid the collision, Mr Aroon swerved off the road.
The bus then rolled down a steep bank about 50 metres from the road, ending upside down in the entranceway.
The driver of the car, Tantima Thaworn, 37, suffered severe abdominal injuries, and after initial treatment at Patong Hospital, she was transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital.
The names of the 28 injured in the bus were given by the Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation as follows:
- Nitaya Yodsawat, 24,
- Lidia Naumova, 25,
- Daniela Raschetnova, 25,
- Evgeniya Priadina/Poriadina, 24,
- Vladislav Kolyadyuk, 10,
- Armen Kirukcsyan, 22,
- Vladimir Popov, 40,
- Svetlana Koporzova, 32,
- Akob Khachatrian, 31,
- Victor Olyunin, 62,
- Natalia Savina, 28,
- Alexei Esaulov, 43
- Elena Esaulova, 42,
- Nadia Polyakova, 64,
- Evgenia Kolesnikova, 37,
- Grigorii Chetii, 33,
- Dmitrii Sharagulov, 39,
- Marina Sharagulova, 32,
- Julia Temirkhanova, 39,
- Arsalan Sharagulov, 15,
- Irina Sharagulova, 9,
- Polina Sharagulova, 2,
- Marina Korablova, 43,
- Radik Murtazov, 34,
- Liubov Murtazova, 31,
- Diana Murtazova, 2,
- Liliya Murtazova, and
- Ivan Lazarenko, 23.
By the afternoon, all but the two Thai women had been treated and discharged from hospital.