Crane falls onto moving train in Thailand, killing at least 22 in fiery derailment

Bangkok — A construction crane fell onto a moving passenger train, causing a fiery derailment that killed at least 22 people Wednesday in northeastern Thailand, authorities said. Another 64 people were injured and rescuers were still searching the wreckage and giving first aid.

The derailment occurred on part of an ambitious planned high-speed rail project that will eventually connect China with much of Southeast Asia.

The crane, which was being used to build an elevated part of the railway, fell as the train was traveling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani province, according to the public relations office for Nakhon Ratchasima province, where the accident occurred some 143 miles northeast of Bangkok.

Photos published in Thai media showed plumes of white, then dark smoke above the scene and construction equipment hanging down from between two concrete support pillars.

Rescue workers stood on top of overturned railway carriages, some of them with gaping holes torn on their sides, video from public broadcaster ThaiPBS showed. What appeared to be sections of the crane were scattered along the track.

Thai media reported the train had three carriages, the last two being the most heavily damaged.

Transport Minister Piphat Ratchakitprakan said 195 people were on board the train. He said he ordered an investigation.

Area resident Mitr Intrpanya, 54, told French news agency AFP she “heard a loud noise, like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions. 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 elevated segment that collapsed is a part of a Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project linking Bangkok, Thailand’s capital to the northeastern province of Nong Khai, bordering Laos. The two-stage rail project has a total cost of more than 520 billion baht ($16.8 billion) and is associated with an ambitious plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

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.