BANGKOK — A crane fell on a train with about 200 passengers and crew members aboard in northeastern Thailand on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people and injuring at least 67 others, the Thai Health Ministry said.
The authorities were investigating the accident, which occurred about 9 a.m. on a section of track northeast of Bangkok over which an elevated, high-speed railway is being constructed. The line is planned to extend through Southeast Asia to China.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul of Thailand pledged punishment if any wrongdoing was found.
“This incident was an engineering issue, not an act of God or something caused by nature,” he told reporters.
The train, Special Express Train No. 21, was traveling in Nakhon Ratchasima province, carrying 195 people, when the crane collapsed on it, authorities said. It was about halfway through its voyage between Bangkok and the eastern city of Ubon Ratchathani.
At the scene late Wednesday, dozens of workers were still sifting through the wreckage. Nupih Pinta, 56, a resident of the area, said villagers struggled to help the passengers.
“It was really difficult because many of them were trapped,” Nupih said. Some of the passengers who survived walked out on their own, he said, and sat on the side of a dirt road waiting for help.
Colonel Thatchapon Chinnawongand, the chief of the police station in Sikhio, the district where the accident happened, said the crane fell from a height of around 65 feet.
Italian-Thai Development PCL, a company involved in the construction, said in a statement Wednesday that it would take “full responsibility” and “provide full compensation and medical care” to the families of the deceased and the injured. It also said it would support local authorities.
The construction project was part of a high-speed train network to China via Laos. It is backed by China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Thai news media reported.
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a news conference, “The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of both the project and personnel, and we are also following up on the situation.”
She added, “At present, it appears that the relevant section is being constructed by Thai companies, and the cause of the accident is still under investigation.”
China-backed projects came under scrutiny in Thailand last year, when a building under construction in Bangkok collapsed during an earthquake. Dozens of workers died in that disaster.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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