Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited (ITD) issued an official statement expressing condolences and accepting responsibility following a crane collapse that struck a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province on Tuesday morning, January 14.
The fatal accident occurred at around 9am when a construction crane from the elevated Bangkok–Nong Khai high-speed railway project collapsed onto the Bangkok–Ubon Ratchathani passenger train as it passed through the Sikhiu district. The impact caused a fire to break out, trapping passengers inside the train’s carriages.
The train driver, who narrowly survived the crash, told the media that the train consisted of three carriages and was carrying approximately 200 passengers travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani. According to his account, the collapsed crane struck the second carriage directly, triggering the blaze.
Later in the afternoon, the official Facebook page of Italian-Thai Development, the main contractor for the project, released a formal statement saying:
“Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited expresses its deepest condolences for the loss of life and injuries resulting from the construction crane accident that occurred in Sikhiu district, Nakhon Ratchasima province.
The company takes full responsibility and will provide compensation and relief to the families of the deceased and medical care to the injured. The company is also ready to support all relevant authorities in resolving the situation and restoring normalcy as quickly as possible.”
Bangkokbiznews reported that the project is jointly supervised by ITD and China Railway Engineering Corporation. The two companies previously worked together on the construction of the Office of the Auditor General building in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district, which collapsed in March last year.
Source: The Thaiger