The aftermath of a bus crash in which 18 tourists were killed and 32 seriously injured after the driver lost control and ploughed into a tree yesterday (March 21).

The group had spent the day visiting beaches in Chanthaburi province, eastern Thailand, where they posed for holiday snaps.They boarded a coach to drive back to Kalasin province 350 miles away in the northeastern region of the country - but midway through the journey, the driver lost control after the brakes allegedly failed.

The bus veered off a dark, steep road into a row of roadside food stalls and ploughed into a tree - splitting the vehicle in half in the Nakhon Ratchasima region.

Eighteen dead bodies - 12 women and six men - were pulled from the wreckage and 32 other domestic tourists, all Thai nationals, suffered serious injuries.

There were 50 passengers on board. The driver allegedly fled the scene of the crash and today (March 22) had still not been found.

One of the survivors, Somjit Champasri, said the bus was filled with horrifying screams as it hurtled around a dark bend.

Lt. Col. Pornpattana Pisitkarn from the Udomsap police station near where the accident occurred said the bus breaks appeared to have failed.

He said: ''The bus's GPS tracking system showed that it was traveling at 80kmp and the cause of the accident is likely due to the failure of the braking system. However, at this time we still cannot find the driver of the bus.''