NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand(National times)- A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people. The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway \u2014 a major artery leading from Bangkok \u2014 has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal. The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government\u2019s Public Relations Department. Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage. There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation. \u201cAt this moment, we still can\u2019t say whether another collapse could happen,\u201d he said, citing dangling steel plates. \u201cThat\u2019s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.\u201d Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train\u2019s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday. The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways. Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters. South Korea\u2019s Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead. The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative. In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers. Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project\u2019s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision. A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured. Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday\u2019s accident took place, though several other companies are also involved. The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building\u2019s collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed. Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai\u2019s president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project\u2019s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand\u2019s Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments. The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies\u2019 involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand(National times)- A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people. The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway \u2014 a major artery leading from Bangkok […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n