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AFP, NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand
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A crane at a China-backed high-speed rail project in Thailand yesterday collapsed onto a passenger train, causing it to derail, killing at least 32 people, authorities said.
The massive crane’s broken structure was left resting on giant concrete pillars, while smoke rose from the wreckage of the train below, verified footage from the scene showed.
The company contracted to build the section of the high-speed rail where the crane fell, Italian-Thai Development — one of Thailand’s biggest construction firms — has seen a series of deadly incidents at its sites in the past few years.
Recovery workers stand next to the wreckage of a train that derailed when a construction crane collapsed in Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima Province yesterday.
Photo: AFP
The firm expressed condolences for those killed and the dozens injured, saying in a statement it would “take responsibility for compensating the victims’ families and covering medical expenses for those injured.”
Dozens of rescuers worked into the evening, using other cranes to remove wreckage and searching for missing people in the tilted carriages in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeast of the capital, Bangkok.
Mitr Intrpanya, who was at the scene, said he heard a loud noise “like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions.”
“When I went to see what had happened, I found the crane sitting on a passenger train with three carriages,” the 54-year-old said. “The metal from the crane appeared to strike the middle of the second carriage, slicing it in half.”
The Thai Ministry of Public Health said that 32 people were killed, three were missing and 64 were hospitalized, including seven in serious condition.
The incident happened at a construction site that is part of a more than US$5 billion project backed by China to build a high-speed rail network in Thailand.
It aims to connect Bangkok to Kunming, China, via Laos by 2028 as part of Beijing’s vast Belt and Road Initiative.
Theerachote Rujiviphat, an engineering consultant adviser on the high-speed project, said that Italian-Thai Development was solely responsible for the crane collapse.
Theerachote, from the China Railway Design Corp, said the launching crane that fell onto the existing rail tracks also belonged to Italian-Thai.
“It is the only company in charge. A similar accident also happened a few years ago under their responsibility,” Theerachote added.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said authorities must determine the cause of the crane collapse and hold those responsible to account.
“These kind of incidents happen very regularly,” he told reporters in Bangkok. “I have heard that it is the same company [involved in previous accidents]. It is time to change the law to blacklist construction companies that are repeatedly responsible for accidents.”
