Thai police have arrested the driver of a bus carrying young students and teachers that caught fire and killed 23 in suburban Bangkok on Tuesday.
The arrest came as families arrived in the capital on Wednesday to identify the burned bodies of their loved ones.
The bus carrying six teachers and 39 primary school-aged students was travelling from Uthai Thani province, about 180 miles north of Bangkok, for a school trip when the blaze broke out.
It spread so quickly many were unable to escape.
Trairong Phiwpan, head of the police forensic department, said 23 bodies were recovered from the bus.
The recovery work and confirmation of the total dead had been delayed earlier because the burned vehicle, which was fuelled with natural gas, remained too hot to enter for hours.
The driver, identified by the police as Saman Chanput, surrendered Tuesday evening several hours after the fire.
Police said they have charged him with reckless driving causing deaths and injuries, failing to stop to help others and failing to report the accident.
Chayanont Meesati, deputy regional police chief, said he told police he was driving normally until the bus lost balance at its front right tire and scraped a concrete highway barrier, causing the sparks that ignited the blaze.
The driver said he ran to grab a fire extinguisher from another bus that was travelling for the same trip to Thailand’s Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces.
He claimed he could not put out the fire and ran away because he panicked, Mr Chayanont said.
Police are also investigating whether the bus met all safety standards.
Three students remain hospitalised, two of whom are in serious condition.
A seven-year-old girl suffered burns on her face, and a surgeon said doctors were doing their best to try to save her eyesight.
Families were driven to Bangkok on Wednesday to provide DNA samples to help identify the dead.
In an interview with public broadcaster Thai PBS, bus company owner Songwit Chinnaboot said the bus was inspected for safety twice a year as required and that the gas cylinders had passed the safety standards.
He also said he would compensate the victims' families as best as he could.
