A bus carrying young students with their teachers caught fire in suburban Bangkok on Tuesday and more than 20 of those on board were feared dead, officials and rescuers said.

A school bus carrying dozens of students exploded into flames near Bangkok on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, with 13 others unaccounted for and feared dead, Thai officials said. Most of the people killed or still missing as rescue efforts proceeded Tuesday evening were children and teenagers between the ages of 6 and 16.

The bodies of 20 children and three teachers have been recovered after a bus transporting school pupils crashed and caught fire outside Bangkok. The bus was returning to the Thai capital after a school trip to the north of the country.