An out-of-control bus veered off the road injuring 30 workers in eastern Thailand this morning.

The vehicle was taking dozens of passengers to an industrial zone in Chonburi province when it reportedly suffered a brake failure.

Workers screamed as the bus swerved off the highway and rolled into a 7ft-deep roadside ditch in the Sriracha district at 8:45 am local time.

Rescue teams rushed to Highway 331 in the Sriracha district, where they found the passengers who suffered head injuries, abrasions, cuts, and fractures.

Volunteers used cutting equipment to extract two people still trapped in their seats.

Officials said the rescue took more than an hour, adding around 30 people were rushed to nearby hospitals.

A Nong Kham Police Station officer said: 'Rescue and emergency medical personnel have assisted the injured and taken them to hospitals. Most sustained lacerations, bone fractures and cuts. The majority were migrant workers from Myanmar employed at Saha Group. There were no reports of fatalities. Police will investigate the scene and proceed with legal action.'

Bus driver Thiwat Sotan, 31, said he was taking the staff to work when he saw traffic congestion ahead.

He said: 'I was driving uphill when I saw the traffic jam ahead. I tried to brake, but the brakes failed, so I decided to swerve off the road. The bus plunged into a ditch around two metres deep, and many of those onboard were injured. But if I hadn't swerved, we could have slammed into the cars ahead, causing even more injuries and damage.'

Police said the traffic jam was caused by an earlier pickup truck crash along the road. No injuries or casualties were reported in that accident.

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.