30 killed as crane falls on moving train in Thailand

Nakhon Ratchasima:A construction crane fell onto a moving passenger train, causing a fiery derailment Wednesday that killed at least 30 people and injured scores in northeastern Thailand. The derailment occurred on part of a planned high-speed rail project that will eventually connect China with much of Southeast Asia.

Anuphong Suksomnit, the governor of Nakhon Ratchasima province, where the accident took place, said four passengers among the 171 believed to have been on board the train were still missing. Searchers were still looking through the wreckage about eight hours after the morning crash. The crane, which was being used to build an elevated part of the railway, fell as the train was travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani province, authorities said. Photos published in Thai media showed plumes of white then dark smoke above the scene, and construction equipment hanging down from girders between two concrete support pillars.

Rescue workers extricated survivors from mangled, overturned carriages, some of them with gaping holes torn on their sides

Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said he has ordered an investigation. In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers. Days of heavy rainfall were believed to have been a factor in the collapse.

The elevated segment that collapsed is a part of a Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project linking the national capital Bangkok to the northeastern province of Nong Khai, bordering Laos.