Dozens killed after crane falls on Thai passenger train

At least 31 people have been killed and more than 60 are injured after a train was derailed in north-eastern Thailand when a construction crane fell on three of its carriages.

The train was travelling through the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, 230 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, when the crash occurred. It was travelling from the capital to the Ubon Ratchathani province, police said.

Police told Reuters there were more bodies in the wreckage that had yet to be retrieved.

“The death toll has reached 25. The search for more bodies is ongoing,” Police Colonel Thatchapon Chinnawong told Reuters by phone.

Earlier, Chinnawong said the crane had started to shift, creating difficulties in recovering bodies from the train.

Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said there were 195 passengers on board and that he had ordered a thorough investigation to be carried out.

Those killed were in two of the three carriages hit by the crane, he said.

The crane was working on a high-speed rail project when it collapsed and hit the passing train, causing it to be derailed and briefly catch fire.

Images shared by the ministry showed carriages overturned next to shrubland and firefighters extinguishing a blaze as smoke billowed out.

Footage of the crash site verified by Reuters shows rescue workers trying to extract casualties from one of the buckled carriages, with badly injured passengers already being loaded into ambulances.

The elevated high-speed rail project, one of several under construction in Thailand, was being built above the existing rail line. Part of the collapsed crane is still propped up by the stanchions built to support the new rail link.

The construction is part of the Bangkok-Nakhon Ratchasima segment of the transnational high-speed rail project linking the Thai capital with southwest China’s Kunming, via Laos.

In 2025, the Thai government said that more than a third of construction had been completed in the segment connecting Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, and the entire line to Nong Khai at the border with Laos would be ready by 2030.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press briefing that the Chinese government attached great importance to the safety of projects and personnel and was looking into the situation.

“At present, it seems that the relevant section was under construction by a Thai enterprise. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.”

Reuters

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