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Broken down bus in Phuket underpass causes hour-long congestion

Broken down bus in Phuket underpass causes hour-long congestion

PHUKET: A tour bus whose engine failed on the northbound lane of the Darasamut Underpass at 7:15pm last night (Oct 30) caused a tailbacks and a blockage of cars for over an hour, Capt Siripong Wongsonpet of the Wichit Police confirmed to The Phuket News today (Oct 31).

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By Shela Riva

Tuesday 31 October 2017 10:31 AM


The bus breaking down caused large tailbacks and congestion. Photo: Wichit Police

The bus breaking down caused large tailbacks and congestion. Photo: Wichit Police

“The bus’ engine was very old. It broke down inside the underpass causing some congestion until just before the Naka temple and Weekend Market,” said Capt Siripong.

“But we quickly diverted the rest of the traffic to use the normal roads above the underpass, so the traffic was not affected too badly. However, the cars already inside the tunnel were stuck.

“The thing was that other vehicles kept moving around the broken down bus, so it was very difficult to move it out of the underpass.

“The tow truck needed to move the bus also took a while to arrive. Altogether the process took from 7:15pm until 8:20pm, so over an hour,” said Capt Siripong.

“The bus looked so new on the outside, but the engine was a different story.

“So many of these buses are like that,” he added with a laugh.

There were no injuries caused by the incident, confirmed Capt Siripong.