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At least 32 people were killed and 66 others injured after a construction crane collapsed onto a moving passenger train in north-eastern Thailand on Wednesday, authorities said, in one of the country's deadliest rail disasters in recent years.
The accident occurred at about 09:00 local time in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, roughly 230 kilometres northeast of Bangkok. The train, travelling from the capital to Ubon Ratchathani province, was passing beneath an elevated construction site when the crane fell onto two carriages, derailing the train and briefly igniting a fire.
Officials said between 171 and 195 passengers were on board, many of them students and workers commuting for school or employment. Among the injured were a one-year-old child and an 85-year-old man, with seven people reported to be in critical condition.
Footage from the scene showed overturned carriages, scorched metal, and rescue workers clambering over wreckage as smoke rose from the site. Emergency crews worked for hours to extract trapped passengers, with ambulances lined along the tracks to transport the injured to nearby hospitals.
The crane was being used to construct part of a high-speed railway project linking Bangkok to Nong Khai, near the border with Laos, as part of a China-backed regional rail network extending toward southwest China. Local media reported that the crane was lifting a large concrete section when it failed and dropped onto the train below.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who was due to visit the site, said the incident appeared to involve negligence and called for accountability. "Accidents like this do not happen without skipped steps or failures in design, materials or supervision," he said, adding that legal action would be pursued.
The State Railway of Thailand said it was suing Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, the contractor responsible for the section under construction. The company expressed regret and said it would compensate the families of those killed and injured.
Italian-Thai Development is one of Thailand's largest construction firms and has previously faced scrutiny. Last year, its president and several engineers were charged with professional negligence following the collapse of a Bangkok skyscraper during an earthquake.
The Chinese embassy in Thailand said no Chinese companies or workers were involved in the crane collapse. Authorities said investigations were continuing as recovery operations moved into the evening.
