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At least 22 people in Thailand have been killed and scores injured after a crane collapsed onto a passenger train, derailing it on Wednesday, officials said.
Footage from the scene verified by Agence France-Presse 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, north-east of the capital, Bangkok.
“At around 9am, I heard a loud noise, like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions,” said local resident Mitr Intrpanya, 54, 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.”
Thatchapon Chinnawong, the district police chief, said 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.
The accident happened at a construction site that is part of a $5.4bn 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” infrastructure initiative.
“A crane collapsed onto a train causing it to derail and catch fire,” the Nakhon Ratchasima provincial public relations department said in a statement.
Live footage aired by local media showed rescue workers rushing to the scene, with a brightly coloured train derailed on its side as smoke billowed from the debris.
Thatchapon said authorities were pausing the rescue operation due to “chemical leakage” at the scene.
The department said the train was travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani province.
The transport minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, said 195 people were onboard.Authorities are trying to identify the deceased. He ordered officials to determine the cause of the accident, according to a statement.
Thailand has around 5,000km (3,107 miles) of railway but the run-down network has long driven people to favour travel by road.
Upon completion of the 600km high-speed railway, Chinese-made trains will run from Bangkok to Nong Khai, on the Mekong river border with Laos, at up to 250 km/h.
Industrial and construction site accidents have long been common in Thailand, where lax enforcement of safety regulations often leads to deadly incidents.
