At least 25 people have been killed and about 80 are injured, after a train derailed in north-eastern Thailand when a construction crane fell on three of its carriages.
The train was travelling through the Sikhio district of Nakhon Ratchasima province, 230 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, when the crash occurred. It was travelling from the capital to the Ubon Ratchathani province, police said.
The derailed train can be seen with the fallen crane above.Credit: Nakhon Ratchasima provincial government
Local police told Reuters there were more bodies in the wreckage that had yet to be retrieved.
“Nineteen bodies have been recovered, but there are still some inside the train carriages that cannot be removed yet because the crane started shifting, so the team pulled back for fear of danger,” Police Colonel Thatchapon Chinnawong said by phone.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said there were 195 passengers on board and that he had ordered a thorough investigation to be carried out.
Those killed were in two of the three carriages hit by the crane, he said.
The crane was working on a high-speed rail project when it collapsed and hit the passing train, causing it to derail and briefly catch fire.
Images shared by the ministry showed carriages overturned next to shrubland and firefighters extinguishing a blaze as smoke billowed out.
