32 Killed in Thai Train Crash

PeterRS · 2026-01-15T02:07:24Z

Yesterday afternoon a construction crane working on an overhead railway collapsed and fell onto a moving train below. The train was en route from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani and was quite close to its destination. Passengers were mostly students and manual workers. 32 were killed and 66 others injured. After being crushed, some carriages caught fire. 171 were aboard the train.

Local outlet The Nation reported that the incident occurred while the crane was lifting a large concrete section which dropped on to the train, causing several coaches to derail . . .

"Accidents like this can only happen due to negligence, skipped steps, deviations from the design, or the use of incorrect materials," [Prime Minister] Anutin said.

The crane was being used to build an overhead railway that is part of a US$5.4bn (£4bn) China-backed project to link Bangkok with neighbouring Laos, where a Chinese-built high-speed line is already running to south-western China . . .

It seems that the Italian-Thai Development company was in charge of that section of the overhead railway construction. Typically in Thailand major infrasructure projects are farmed out among various companies as a number of politicians are always involved in parcelling out the land. Corruption has always payed its part!

One of Thailand's biggest contractors, the company was responsible for the construction of a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed last March during an earthquake. Last year the company's president and several designers and engineers were charged with professional negligence over that incident. Some have denied wrongdoing.

The Chinese embassy in Thailand said that no Chinese construction companies or workers were involved in the collapse, Chinese state media reported.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqz7v1507ro