Bodies of the children and teachers who died in a Thai school bus fire return home for funeral

LAN SAK, Thailand (AP) — The bodies of almost two dozen young students and teachers who died in a bus fire in a suburb of Bangkok were returned late Wednesday to central Thailand, where they began their ill-fated school field trip.

Friends, relatives and Buddhist monks waited past midnight for the last of several convoys carrying remains, as well as relatives who had to travel to Bangkok to help with DNA identification of the severely burned victims.

The bodies were received at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam, the temple in this town in Uthai Thani province that houses the school attended by the victims. It is common in much of rural Thailand for Buddhist temples, which serve as community centers, to host schools.

A line of coffins with portraits of the deceased sat in a big assembly hall of the school where grief-stricken relatives huddled. Some went over to touch the portraits of many small children, or stood still in silence in front of them. Funeral services were to begin Thursday morning.

The tragedy has caused sadness as well as anger. On social media, parents have expressed nervousness about sending their children on school field trips, but more common was outrage about the apparent lack of safety measures. Thailand has long been infamous for having one of the highest rates of traffic fatalities in the world.

Thai police on Wednesday said they were investigating whether the fire was caused by negligence, and filed several initial charges against the driver.

The blaze on the bus carrying six teachers and 39 elementary and junior high school students on Tuesday spread so quickly that 23 were killed while only 22 were able to escape

Three students remained hospitalized, two in serious condition. A 7-year-old girl suffered burns on her face, and a surgeon said doctors were trying to save her eyesight.

The driver, Saman Chanput, was arrested several hours after the accident and charged with reckless driving causing deaths and injuries, failing to stop to help others and failing to report the accident, police said. He had fled the scene, but after being arrested told police he had run to try to get a fire extinguisher from another vehicle, but panicked and ran away when the fire went out of control before he could get any help.

Authorities were investigating if the fire might be caused by negligence by the bus company as well as the driver, and will press charges against all parties responsible, acting police chief Kitrat Phanphet said at a press conference.

While an initial investigation suggested that the driver was not speeding, police found 11 natural gas canisters inside the bus that had a permit to install only six, Kitrat said. Many Thai vehicles use NGV — also called CNG, compressed natural gas — for fuel.

Police have not officially concluded what was the cause of the fire, but have said the driver told investigators he was driving normally until a front tire malfunctioned and set the bus off balance, at which point it hit a car and then scraped against a concrete highway barrier. The sparks from the friction might have set off the highly flammable gas canisters, and ignited the blaze, police said.

Kitrat said the fact that the driver did not immediately stop after feeling he was losing control of the bus could be grounds for negligence.

An inspection of the bus found that its emergency exit could be opened, but it wasn't clear if it worked properly, said chief of police forensics Trairong Phiwpan. He also said they did not find any emergency window breakers.

In an interview with public broadcaster ThaiPBS, bus company owner Songwit Chinnaboot said the vehicle was inspected for safety twice a year as required and that the gas cylinders had passed safety standards.

Thailand's Department of Land Transport said it was implementing urgent inspections of all natural gas-fueled buses. The department also will upgrade its safety guidelines to require crisis management training for drivers and safety inspection every time such vehicles are to be commissioned by schools, said Seksom Akraphand, the agency's deputy director-general.

A grieving family member cries during the coffin procession for victims of a bus fire at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Victims' relatives carry portraits of the victims of a bus fire in a procession at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Victims' relatives carry portraits of the victims of a bus fire in a procession at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A monk leads a coffin procession containing the body of a victim of a bus fire as they arrive at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A relative of the bus fire victims walks in front of their coffins at the Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Relatives of the bus fire victims pray at their coffins at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Portraits of the bus fire victims are placed in front of their coffins at the Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Relatives of the bus fire victims view their portraits at the Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Officers carry a coffin of a bus fire victim as they arrive at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Relatives of victims in a bus fire carry portraits of the deceased in a procession at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

An ambulance carrying a body leaves from the Police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Nurse students pay respect to one of the victims of a school bus fire, at Police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Nurse students pay respect to one of the victims of a school bus fire, at Police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Ambulances carrying bodies of victims of a school bus fire leave from the Police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

An ambulance carrying a body leaves from the Police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Officers of a police forensics team inspect a bus that caught fire, carrying young students with their teachers, in suburban Bangkok, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A forensic officer stands behind the forensic department at a police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, as family members of victims visit there after a bus carrying students and teachers caught a fire Tuesday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A rescuer inspects a bus that caught fire, carrying young students with their teachers, in suburban Bangkok, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Forensic officers stand beside empty coffins at a forensic police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, following a deadly bus fire incident. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Family members of a victim arrive at a forensic police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Family members of a victim arrive at a forensic police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, after a bus carrying students and teachers caught a fire Tuesday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Family members of a victim arrive at a forensic police hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, after a bus carrying students and teachers caught a fire Tuesday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers gather at the site of a bus that caught fire, carrying young students with their teachers, in suburban Bangkok, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules that require grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs.

Trump, at a White House ceremony, said the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.

The move to relax the Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants known as HFCs emitted by refrigerators and other appliances was the latest attempt by the Trump administration to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living ahead of pivotal elections in November.

It is not clear how much or how quickly the loosening of the refrigerant rule might impact grocery prices. Industry groups said the move could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.

Inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April, amid price spikes caused by the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Inflation is now outpacing wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.

The Biden-era regulation was “unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse,” Trump said at a ceremony joined by top executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains. The EPA action will protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and save Americans more than $2 billion a year, he said.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the change in approach would “inject uncertainty across the market” and could even raise prices.

“This rule works against basic supply and demand,” said Stephen Yurek, the group’s president and CEO. “By extending the compliance deadline” for phasing out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, the administration “is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall.”

Manufacturers have already retooled product lines and certified models based on the existing timeline, Yurek said. Nearly 90% of residential and light commercial air conditioning systems use substitute refrigerants, rather than HFCs, he said.

The administration's action on refrigerants represents a reversal after Trump signed a law in his first term that aimed to reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. That bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.

The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of HFCs, greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.

The EPA action highlights the second Trump administration’s drive to roll back regulations perceived as climate friendly. The plan is among a series of sweeping environmental changes that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said will put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”

Environmentalists criticized the administration’s actions, saying the new rule would exacerbate climate pollution while disrupting a yearslong industry transition to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.

The 2020 law signed by Trump, known as the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, phased out HFCs as part of an international agreement on ozone pollution. The law accelerated an industry shift to alternative refrigerants that use less harmful chemicals and are widely available.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council, the top lobbying group for the chemical industry, were among numerous business groups that supported the law and an international deal on pollutants, known as the Kigali Amendment, as victories for jobs and the environment. U.S. companies such as Chemours and Honeywell developed and produce the alternative refrigerants sold in the United States and around the world.

The 2023 rule now being relaxed imposed steep restrictions on HFCs starting in 2026. Zeldin said the rule from the Democratic Biden administration did not give companies enough time to comply and that the rapid switch to other refrigerants caused shortages and price increases last year. Some in the industry dispute this.

The Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores and suppliers, applauded the Trump EPA proposal last year, saying the earlier rule “imposed significant and unrealistic compliance timelines.”

Kevin McDaniel, Piggly Wiggly franchise owner, speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Kroger CEO Greg Foran speaks speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - A shop owner reaches into a drink display refrigerator at his convenience store in Kent, Wash., Oct. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)