At least 22 people lost their lives in Thailand on Wednesday after a crane at a China-backed under-construction high-speed rail line came crashing down and fell on a passenger train.
The crane collapse in Sikhiu, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, triggered a derailment of the passenger train, killing at least 22, reported news agency AFP, citing authorities. Many are feared trapped in the train carriages as well.
The train was travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani Province, Reuters reported, adding that the train caught fire after derailing.
More than 30 people have been injured, Reuters reported, citing police, while authorities said on social media that the incident took place at 9:05 am local time.
The train had 195 people on board. Authorities were rushing to identify the deceased, Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn was quoted as saying by AFP.
The news agency also reported that the crane was being used in a $5.4 billion China-backed high-speed rail network project seeking to connect Bangkok in Thailand to Kunming in China via Laos by 2028. The project is part of China's vast Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Once the 600-kilometre high-speed railway is completed, Chinese-made trains will connect Bangkok to Nong Khai, on the Mekong River border with Laos, running at up to 250 km/h.
Videos shared on social media showed rescuers searching for survivors as the sirens of emergency services vehicles blared in the background.
LiveMint could not independently verify the videos.
Search and rescue operations are underway to find passengers trapped inside the train.
Wednesday's accident in Sikhiu is reportedly the third major train accident in Thailand in five years.
The last one took place in 2023, when a freight train struck a pickup truck crossing railway tracks in eastern Thailand, killing eight people, AFP reported.
Three years before that, in 2020, a freight train killed at least 18 people and injured more than 40 others when it crashed into a bus carrying passengers to a religious ceremony.
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