At least 32 people have been killed and many more injured as a construction crane fell on a passenger train in northeast Thailand.
The accident took place in the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, 230km (143 miles) northeast of Bangkok. The train was headed from the Thai capital to Ubon Ratchathani province.
The crash occurred in Nakhon Ratchasima, on a section of a planned Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project that is intended to eventually connect China with much of Southeast Asia.
The province’s Public Health Provincial Office said that there were 32 fatalities and 64 injured victims, including seven with severe injuries.
There were still three passengers missing among the 171 believed to have been on board the train, it said in a statement issued as night fell.
Authorities said that the crane was being used to build an elevated part of the railway when it fell onto the moving train, causing it to derail and briefly catch fire.
Thailand’s Rail Transport Department said that the crane was what is called a launching gantry crane, a self-supporting structure with vertical legs that usually runs on rails or wheels for mobility, allowing it to progress along with the construction project that it straddles. Such cranes are often used to help build elevated roads.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said he ordered an investigation.
Anan Phonimdaeng, Acting Governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
He said that authorities will examine the responsibilities of both parties, and the Railway Department plans to take legal action against the contractor as a first step.
Anan said that damage to the train was estimated to be more than 100 million baht ($3.2 million), while construction equipment suffered limited damage.
A statement posted on the company’s website expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would take responsibility for paying compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
The main contractor for the route’s first stage between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, Italian-Thai Development, was also the directly responsible for construction of the segment where Wednesday’s accident occurred.
China Expresses Condolences
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mao Ning said that the government was aware of the reports about the accident and had expressed condolences.
“The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of projects and personnel, and we are also learning about the situation.
“At present, it appears that the relevant section is being constructed by a Thai company, and the cause of the accident is still under investigation.”
Mao Ning
Industrial and construction site accidents have long been common in Thailand. In 2023, a freight train killed eight people when it struck a pick-up truck crossing railway tracks in eastern Thailand.
Three years earlier, a freight train killed at least 18 people and injured more than 40 when it crashed into a bus carrying passengers to a religious ceremony.
In March, an under-construction high-rise building collapsed in Bangkok after an earthquake, killing more than 100 people.
The company, also known as Italthai, was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in the Thai capital Bangkok, which collapsed during construction in March during a major earthquake.
About 100 people were killed in the collapse, which was the only major structure in Thailand to suffer such serious damage. Dozens of executives were indicted in connection with the disaster but none have yet been tried.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai’s and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, had occurred.
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