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At least 31 people died in Northeast China Thailand A construction crane collapsed onto a speeding train, causing it to derail and burst into flames.
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said there were 195 passengers on board at the time.
The incident occurred in Nakhon Ratchasima province’s Sikhio district, 230 kilometers (143 miles) northeast of Bangkok, where the train departed on Wednesday.
At least 64 people were injured, seven of them seriously. The most seriously injured were transferred to major hospitals, while others were treated near the crash site.
The crane is building part of the ambitious Thailand-China highway project linking the nation’s capitals Bangkok to Nong Khai province in the northeast, bordering Laos.
Ratchakitprakarn said the head of the State Railways of Thailand has been instructed to conduct a “thorough and comprehensive” investigation into the cause of the accident.
Officials were verifying the identities of those affected and closely monitoring the injured, he added, noting that compensation would be provided to the families of the deceased if they were railway workers.
Acting Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutdin Charnvirakulcalling on “all responsible parties” to be punished and held accountable for the incident.
At around 9:13 a.m. local time, Express Train No. 21 was traveling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani at a speed of 120 km/h when it was hit by a falling construction crane. The train departed from Nong Nam Khun Station in Nakhon Ratchasima Province for the last time and was heading to the next station when the accident occurred.
The train had three carriages, and the crane hit the middle carriage. Officials said most of the dead and injured were in the second and last carriage.
Images broadcast by Thai television showed smoke billowing from the derailed train carriage and construction equipment suspended between two concrete pillars.
Video from public broadcaster ThaiPBS showed rescuers standing on top of overturned train cars, some with large holes in their sides.
A train worker said that when the crane fell, he and his passengers were thrown into the air by the impact.
Narrated by Thirasak Wongsoongnern terat online He tried to help the passengers but was unable to contact them because the second carriage was already on fire.
Local resident Mitr Intrpanya, 54, who was at the scene, said he saw the crane hit the train’s second carriage, “cutting it in half.”
“At around 9am I heard a loud noise, like something slipped from above, and then there were two explosions,” he told AFP.
“When I went to see what was going on I found the crane sitting on a three-car passenger train.
“Metal from the crane appeared to have struck the second car in the middle, cutting it in half.”
The company responsible for the construction project where the crane collapsed has expressed its “deepest condolences” over the tragic incident.
Italia-Thailand Development Public Company Limited, one of Thailand’s largest construction companies, is responsible for the Lam Takhong-Sikhio portion of the project where the incident occurred.
The company said it “takes full responsibility and will provide compensation and assistance to the families of the deceased and provide medical treatment to the injured.”
“The company is ready to support department officials to expedite the process of resolving the issue and returning to normalcy as quickly as possible.”
ITD was founded in the 1950s as a joint venture between Thai and Italian businessmen, but is now run entirely by Thais and is headquartered in Bangkok. The company was involved in the construction of a building in Bangkok that collapsed in an earthquake in March.
The incident killed at least 95 people, and the company’s president and several other officials were charged with professional negligence.
Mr Charnvirakul said the cause of the incident was not yet clear, but said Thailand’s jointChina The project has experienced “several incidents” before, citing one About a year ago, a tunnel collapsed, killing all three workers.
“Accidents like this only happen due to negligence, skipping steps, deviating from the design or using incorrect materials,” he said.
He added that officials “need to investigate whether there were any construction errors or deviations from proper procedures.”
The Chinese government appeared to distance itself from the incident, noting that the section of road in question was built by a Thai company.
The two-phase joint project has faced delays and controversy since its launch in 2015. The project, with a total investment of more than 520 billion baht (£12.2 billion), is part of Beijing’s ambitious plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under its Belt and Road Initiative.
The accident was one of Thailand’s deadliest rail accidents in years, but it was not an isolated incident.
In 2023, a freight train crashed into a pickup truck crossing the tracks, killing eight people and injuring four others.