Crane was being used in the construction of a high-speed elevated railway
At least 22 people died when a construction crane fell onto a passenger train in northeastern Thailand, authorities said.
The crane fell as the train was traveling from the capital Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani province, causing the derailment and a fire, according to the Public Relations Department of Nakhon Ratchasima province.
The accident occurred at around 09:00 (02:00 in Lisbon), involving a crane that was being used in the construction of a high-speed elevated railway.
The department said in a social media post that the fire was under control and that rescue teams were now searching for people inside the train, many of whom were trapped in overturned train cars.
Rescue operations had been temporarily suspended due to a “chemical leak”, local police reported, without specifying the origin.
“More than 80” people were injured, Thatchapon Chinnawong, head of a police station in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast of Bangkok, told France-Presse news agency.
Transport Minister Piphat Ratchakitprakan said there were 195 people on board the train and said he had ordered an investigation into the accident, which occurred in Ban Thanon Kho, 32 kilometers from Bangkok.
Thai media outlets and internet users published numerous images of the disaster on social media, showing part of the fire and dozens of rescuers at the scene.
“I heard a loud noise (…) followed by two explosions,” said Mitr Intrpanya, 54, a resident who was at the scene.
“When I went to see what had happened, I found the crane resting on a three-car passenger train. The metal from the crane appeared to have split the second car in half,” he added.
The crane was part of a vast high-speed train construction project in Thailand that began in 2017, a decade late.
The US$5.4 billion (€4.64 billion) project aims to connect Bangkok to Kunming, in southern China, passing through Laos. The first section is scheduled to open in 2028 and the second in 2032.
The line is supported by China as part of the One Belt, One Road initiative, launched to boost trade in the region.
Industrial, construction and transport accidents are relatively frequent in Thailand due to sometimes lax enforcement of safety standards.
In 2020, 18 people died in Thailand when a freight train collided with a bus carrying passengers to a religious ceremony.
Eight people also died in 2023, in a collision between a freight train and a van that was crossing a railway in the east of the country.
