Crane Falls on Passenger Train in Nakhon Ratchasima, Killing at Least 32

A crane fell onto a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in northeastern Thailand, killing at least 32 people and injuring dozens, Thai officials and witnesses said. The three-car Special Express Train No. 21 was carrying about 200 people between Bangkok and Ubon Ratchathani when the crane struck two cars, causing the train to derail and catch fire, authorities said.

Residents at Thanon Kot Village helped free passengers from mangled cars; witnesses said chairs had crushed some riders and that rescuers and bystanders pulled people from splits in the metal. One passenger, Saitee Katpia, said she pulled her 6-year-old grandson from the wreckage; another resident, Somjai Duangchang, said he broke a window and found dead passengers and people "squished between chairs." The crane collapse in Nakhon Ratchasima came a day before a second crane fell on an expressway in Samut Sakhon Province, killing at least two people.

Both sites used the same contractor, Italian-Thai Development, which said it would take "full responsibility" and "provide full compensation and medical care" and support local authorities; its representatives were not reachable, the report said. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul called for a law to blacklist companies with repeated fatal accidents, and a deputy minister said the government was moving to halt all aboveground construction.

Thai authorities said construction operations should not have been running while the passenger train was passing.

Key Topics

World, Italian-thai Development, Nakhon Ratchasima, Samut Sakhon, Anutin Charnvirakul, Ubon Ratchathani