The company behind the section of Chinese-backed high-speed rail in Thailand where dozens of people were killed in a train disaster on Wednesday is the same developer blamed for last year’s deadly office tower collapse in Bangkok.
The struggling Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd (ITD), one of Thailand’s biggest developers, said it was sorry after a crane fell onto a moving passenger train in the central province of Nakhon Ratchasima, killing at least 31 of the almost 200 people on board and injuring more than 60.
A passenger train service was struck by a crane that toppled from an adjacent Thai–Chinese high-speed rail construction site in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima.Credit: Getty Images
The three-carriage train was travelling from the capital, Bangkok, to Ubon Ratchathani province in the country’s east when the impact caused it to derail and partially catch on fire just after 9am (1pm AEDT).
Images and footage from the crash site, more than 200 kilometres from Bangkok, showed carriages overturned, smoke, and rescue workers trying to extract casualties.
Authorities said the crane was being used to build an elevated section of a new Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project, which is intended to link the capital of Bangkok to the northeastern province of Nong Khai and, ultimately, China via Laos.
ITD is the contractor for the Lam Takhong–Sikhio section, where the incident happened, according to the megaproject’s website.
“Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited expresses its deepest condolences for the loss of life and injuries … the company takes full responsibility and will provide full compensation and medical care to the families of the deceased and the injured,” the company said in a statement posted to social media.
The project’s website lists China Railway International Co., Ltd as the “construction supervision consultant”.
