At least 31 people have been killed in Thailand after a construction crane collapsed onto a moving train, causing it to derail and burst into flames.
Deputy prime minister and transport minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said 195 passengers were on board at the time.
The incident occurred in the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, 230km (143 miles) northeast of Bangkok, where the train had departed from on Wednesday.
At least 64 others have been injured, with seven seriously hurt. Those suffering the most serious injuries were transferred to major hospitals, while others were treated nearer to the crash site.
The crane was working on part of an ambitious Thai-Chinese high-speed project linking the national capital Bangkok to the northeastern province of Nong Khai, bordering Laos.
Mr Ratchakitprakarn said the governor of the state railway of Thailand had been instructed to conduct a “thorough and comprehensive” investigation into the cause of the accident.
He added that officials were verifying the identities of those affected and closely monitoring the injured, noting that compensation would be provided to the families of the deceased if they were railway workers.
Thailand’s acting prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, called for “all responsible parties” to be held accountable and punished for the incident.
Special express train number 21 was travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani at 120kmph (75mph) when it was struck by a falling construction crane at around 9.13am local time. The train had last departed from Nong Nam Khun station in Nakhon Ratchasima province, and was heading for the next station when the incident happened.
The train had three carriages in total, and the crane struck the middle car. Officials said the majority of those killed and injured were in the middle and rear carriages.
Images aired by Thai TV showed plumes of smoke rising from the derailed carriages of the train, and construction equipment hanging down between two concrete support pillars.
Video footage shown by public broadcaster ThaiPBS showed rescue workers standing on top of overturned railway carriages, some of which had gaping holes in them.
A member of the train’s staff has said that he and the passengers were thrown into the air by the impact when the crane fell.
Thirasak Wongsoongnern told Thairath Online that he had tried to help passengers but was unable to reach them because the second carriage had already caught fire.
Mitr Intrpanya, 54, a local resident who was at the scene, said he had witnessed the crane striking the second carriage of the train.
“At around 9am, I heard a loud noise, like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions,” he told reporters. “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.”
The company responsible for the construction project expressed its “deepest condolences” over the tragic incident.
Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited (ITD), one of Thailand’s largest construction companies, is in charge of the Lam Takhong-Sikhio section of the project, where the incident took place.
ITD said it “takes full responsibility and will provide compensation and assistance to the families of the deceased and medical care to the injured”, adding: “The company is ready to support officials from all sectors to expedite the process of resolving the situation and returning it to normal as quickly as possible.”
ITD was established in the 1950s as a joint venture between two businessmen, one from Thailand and one from Italy, but it is now wholly Thai-operated and is headquartered in Bangkok.
The same company was involved in the construction of a building in Bangkok that collapsed in March last year during an earthquake. At least 95 people were killed in that incident, and the company’s president and several other officials were charged with professional negligence.
Mr Charnvirakul said the cause of the incident was not yet known, but added that the joint Thai-China project had experienced “several incidents before”, citing a tunnel collapse about a year ago that killed three workers.
“Accidents like this can only happen due to negligence, skipped steps, deviations from the design, or the use of incorrect materials,” he said. He added that officials would “need to investigate whether there were any construction errors or deviations from proper procedures”.
The Chinese government appeared to distance itself from the incident, noting that the section involved was being constructed by a Thai company.
The two-stage joint project has faced delays and disputes since its inception in 2015. It has a total investment of more than 520bn baht (£12.2bn) and is part of an ambitious plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The crash is among the deadliest rail accidents Thailand has seen in years, but it is not an isolated incident. In 2023, a freight train crashed into a pickup truck that was crossing railway tracks, killing eight people and injuring four others.
