Bangkok [Thailand], January 15: At least 30 people were killed and dozens more injured after a passenger train derailed in north-eastern Thailand on Wednesday when a large steel construction crane collapsed during railway works, rescue services and authorities said.
The exact cause of the accident remained unclear hours after the incident.
Initial reports said the crane fell onto the tracks seconds before the train arrived, causing a collision at full speed. Later reports suggested the crane may have collapsed directly onto the moving train.
Thai media reports said the train was travelling at around 120 kilometres per hour when the crane collapsed. The train, carrying nearly 200 people, was travelling through the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, about 230 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, shortly after 9 am (0200 GMT).
It was en route to Ubon Ratchathani near the borders with Laos and Cambodia, according to Thailand's state railway operator SRT.
SRT said at least 195 passengers and staff were on board. Local news portal Thaiger reported many of the passengers were students and commuters.
The accident occurred near construction works on a railway bridge for the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project, which is intended to link Thailand with China via Laos and forms part of Beijing's "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative.
Thai media reports said additional heavy construction materials also fell onto the carriages. Several coaches derailed and at least one caught fire. Estimates of the number of injured ranged from 55 to 80, some of them critically hurt.
Rescue workers described chaotic scenes at the site, with large sections of the train destroyed, crushed carriages lying on their sides and parts of the wreckage in flames. Emergency teams used hydraulic cutting tools and fire engines to free those trapped. The main rail line to north-eastern Thailand has been shut down indefinitely due to the complexity of clearing the wreckage, Anan Pothinimdaeng, deputy governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said.
Local resident Mitr Intrpanya, 54, was at the scene when the incident happened.
"At around 9am, I heard a loud noise, like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions," Mitr told the AFP news agency.
"When I went to see what had happened, I found the crane sitting on a passenger train with three carriages. The metal from the crane appeared to strike the middle of the second carriage, slicing it in half," Mitr said.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul called for a full investigation into the disaster. He said the project had previously faced safety issues, noting that a tunnel collapsed during construction last year. "We must investigate whether the construction work was carried out improperly," Anutin said.
Source: Qatar Tribune
