Chiang Mai bus tragedy: Family members of victims to leave for Bangkok today

Chiu Travel Sdn Bhd general manager Terence Yung said the group would take a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok through Kuala Lumpur International Airport and the 5 pm flight to Chiang Mai.

"They are from seven families who will identify the victims who had died and those who are safe.

"Three of our staff will accompany them to process the death certificates and bring home the remains," he told reporters when met early today.

The 15 family members left Batu Pahat for KLIA at 5 am this morning in a van with two company staff.

Yung said the 22 victims from Batu Pahat were sent to four hospitals around Chiang Mai, Bangkok Hospital, McCormick Hospital, Doi Saket Hospital and Suan Dok Hospital.

"We expect the process to bring back the bodies to take about four to seven days," he said.

He said the victims were to have returned home today on the 11 am flight from Chiang Mai to Changi International Airport, Singapore.

"After receiving the news at 4 pm, we formed an emergency team to obtain all the details before informing the families on the status of the victims around 9 pm (Sunday)," said Yung, 36.

He said the victims' families were devastated upon receiving the news but had remained calm.

"We share their grief and offer our heartfelt sympathies. We also lost one of our staff who had led the group," he said.

Yung said as of 9 pm, 13 victims comprising five men and eight women aged between 20 and 80 had been reported to have died.