By Shivli Singh
At least 22 had died in a construction crane that struck a passenger train in northeast Thailand, which had fallen off the tracks near an ongoing construction line between Bangkok and a provincial station, local officials said. A crane came crashing to the field on the way to the station, slamming its crane into several of the coaches on the way. During the impact, a heavy accident occurred. Witnesses described the carnage as the crash tore the carriages apart and trapped them in mangled compartments. Law enforcement and firefighters, health and emergency medical personnel who began helping to get people out of the wreckage also came to the scene. “Some other passengers were apparently pulled out of the crash and taken to local hospitals,” officials said, adding that their death toll would be far higher. Compounding this damage is a fallen crane and rail infrastructure. This spot was cleared by heavy machinery, and train traffic along the route is also stopped. On the transportation side, Thai representatives said they had opened an investigation after the crane collapsed. Much debate exists at construction sites over the number of safety controls or regulations followed (if there were even any laws to talk about, that workers next door to active rail tracks would not care). The central government also offered its condolences in sympathy to relatives and partially compensated the victims (some of them). As part of security inspections, senior officials would stop down on the crash site. Thailand is a developing country that is building mega-projects such as this; this incident only points out the importance of building safety codes and also control on their train transport infrastructure. More information is being received, officials said, regarding this investigation.