A crane at a China-backed high-speed rail project in Thailand collapsed onto and derailed a passenger train on Wednesday, killing at least 22 people and injuring scores, local authorities said.
Footage from the scene verified by AFP showed the crane’s broken structure resting on giant concrete pillars, with smoke rising from the wreckage of the train below.
Rescuers worked to extract passengers from the tilted carriages in Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast of the capital Bangkok.
Thatchapon Chinnawong, the district police chief, told AFP that 22 people had been confirmed dead and 80 more were injured.
“We are now asking the hospital to say how many people are in critical condition,” Thatchapon said.
“At around 9:00am, I heard a loud noise, like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions,” said 54-year-old local resident Mitr Intrpanya, who was at the scene.
“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,” Mitr told AFP.
The accident happened at a construction site that is part of a $5.4-billion project backed by Beijing to build a high-speed rail network in Thailand.
It aims to connect Bangkok to Kunming in China via Laos by 2028 as part of China’s vast Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
