Police were called to the scene, on Phuket Rd southbound, just north of the Phuket Immigration Office, at just before 5pm.
Lt Wipawan Wattana-Ngentha-nong of the Phuket City Police arrived with Traffic Police officers and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers to find the remains of the baby on the road, and her mother, 24-year-old Myanmar national Kayta Sintu, seriously injured.
Further down the road was the tour bus, registered in Nakhon Pathom province, near Bangkok, and marked with ‘Barami Rungrote Tour Ltd’, stopped in the middle of the street.
Rescue workers rushed Mrs Kayta to Vachira Phuket Hospital. The Phuket News has yet to confirm her condition.
The bus driver was not at the scene, but police later confirmed that he fled to immediately present himself at Phuket City Police Station. The driver, who police did not name, said he feared the reaction of the woman’s relatives to the incident.
Police reported that “witnesses” told them that the bus was being driven along the road and the driver moved the bus to the left side of the lane to pass a car in front that was starting to make a U-turn.
The manoeuvre resulted in the bus and motorbike colliding, send Mrs Kayta and her daughter tumbling off the motorbike and onto the road.
The baby’s head went under the bus’s rear wheels, police noted.
Police said they are continuing their investigation, and will be checking any CCTV footage available to confirm what actually transpired.