{"id":232564,"date":"2026-01-14T10:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/232564\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T10:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:46:09","slug":"crane-collapse-derails-train-in-thailand-killing-22-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/232564\/","title":{"rendered":"Crane collapse derails train in Thailand, killing 22: police"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This<\/p>\n

\nRescue workers next to the wreckage of a train crash after a construction crane collapse in Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima province.
\nPhoto: AFP \/ HANDOUT\n<\/p>\n

By Montira Rungjirajittranon and Pasika Khernanuoy, AFP<\/p>\n

A crane at a China-backed high-speed rail project in Thailand collapsed onto and derailed a passenger train on Wednesday, killing at least 22 people and injuring scores, local authorities said.<\/p>\n

Footage from the scene verified by AFP showed the crane’s broken structure resting on giant concrete pillars, with smoke rising from the wreckage of the train below.<\/p>\n

Rescuers worked to extract passengers from the tilted carriages in Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast of the capital Bangkok.<\/p>\n

“At around 9am, I heard a loud noise, like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions,” said local resident Mitr Intrpanya, 54, who was at the scene.<\/p>\n

“When I went to see what had happened, I found the crane sitting on a passenger train with three carriages.<\/p>\n

“The metal from the crane appeared to strike the middle of the second carriage, slicing it in half,” Mitr told AFP.<\/p>\n

Thatchapon Chinnawong, the district police chief told AFP 22 people had been confirmed dead and 80 more were injured.<\/p>\n

“We are now asking the hospital to say how many people are in critical condition,” Thatchapon said.<\/p>\n

The accident happened at a construction site that is part of a $5.4-billion project backed by Beijing to build a high-speed rail network in Thailand.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

\nA crane at an under-construction high-speed rail line in Thailand collapsed onto a passenger train.
\nPhoto: AFP \/ handout\n<\/p>\n

It aims to connect Bangkok to Kunming in China via Laos by 2028 as part of China’s vast “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative.<\/p>\n

“A crane collapsed onto a train causing it to derail and catch fire,” the Nakhon Ratchasima provincial public relations department said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Live footage aired by local media showed rescue workers rushing to the scene, with a brightly coloured train derailed on its side as smoke billowed from the debris.<\/p>\n

Thatchapon, the police chief, later told AFP that authorities were pausing the rescue operation due to “chemical leakage” at the scene.<\/p>\n

The Nakhon Ratchasima provincial department said the train was travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani province.<\/p>\n

Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said 195 people were on board the train and authorities were rushing to identify the deceased.<\/p>\n

He ordered officials to determine the cause of the accident, according to a statement.<\/p>\n

Thailand already has about 5000 kilometres of railway but the run-down network has long driven people to favour travel by road.<\/p>\n

Upon completion of the 600-kilometre high-speed railway, Chinese-made trains will run from Bangkok to Nong Khai, on the Mekong River border with Laos, at up to 250 km\/h.<\/p>\n

Industrial and construction site accidents have long been common in Thailand, where lax enforcement of safety regulations often leads to deadly incidents.<\/p>\n

In 2023, a freight train killed eight people after it struck a pickup truck crossing railway tracks in eastern Thailand.<\/p>\n

A freight train killed at least 18 people and injured more than 40 others in 2020 when it crashed into a bus carrying passengers to a religious ceremony.<\/p>\n

– AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rescue workers next to the wreckage of a train crash after a construction crane collapse in Thailand’s Nakhon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-232564","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-podcasts","13":"tag-public-radio","14":"tag-radio-new-zealand","15":"tag-rnz","16":"tag-top-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-topnews","19":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}