By Panarat Thepgumpanat
BANGKOK, Jan 15 (Reuters) – A crane collapsed onto a road near Thailand’s capital on Thursday, crushing two vehicles and killing two people a day after a similar accident in the northeast caused the derailing of a train and the deaths of 32 passengers.
Thailand’s transport minister said construction firm Italian-Thai Development PCL, whose crane fell onto the train in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province a day earlier, was also involved in the crane accident near Bangkok.
Thursday’s incident took place in Samut Sakhon province, where the crane, which was being used in building an elevated highway, fell onto the road beneath and crushed two cars, according to local police, who said two people were also injured.
SERIES OF FATAL CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS
It was the latest in a series of fatal accidents caused by construction projects in Thailand, several involving Italian-Thai, including the collapse of a partially-built Bangkok tower last year that killed at least 89 people during a 7.7-magnitude earthquake and led to charges of negligence against 23 people, its president among those.
Italian-Thai declined to immediately comment on the latest incident and did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Images from the scene showed a mangled green crane and huge pieces of concrete that had crushed the vehicles below. Video from news outlet Thai Rath showed cars reversing to avoid the wreckage amid a cloud of dust from the collapsed concrete.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who was once president of his family’s construction firm Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction, said two incidents showed it was time for more action to ensure safety.
“We have to fix the law,” said Anutin, who had visited the site of the train disaster in the northeast on Wednesday.
“Instead of telling agencies to do this or that, we have to have a meeting and we will have to do something.”
Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy, has been undergoing significant infrastructure development, from elevated highways and high-speed rail lines to major expansion of its elevated rail network in Bangkok.
‘OVER AND OVER AGAIN’
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said it was crucial to determine whether these were caused by accidents or other factors.
“The incident happened over and over again. It was caused by the same contractor,” he said during a talk show interview with Channel 3 television, referring to Italian-Thai.
“I am confused about what is happening to the company.”
Authorities said an investigation into Wednesday’s accident in the northeast was ongoing.
As well as the 32 fatalities, 66 of the 195 passengers on the train were also injured after a crane involved in building structures for an elevated high-speed rail project collapsed onto an existing train line below.
The cross-country high-speed rail project will connect to China through Laos. The government said last year that more than a third of construction had been completed in the segment connecting Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, with the whole line to Nong Khai at the border with Laos ready by 2030.
Italian-Thai, a firm founded in 1958 by Italian and Thai partners, in a statement said it accepted responsibility for compensating families of those impacted by the train derailment.
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Additional reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Orathai Sriring; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by David Stanway and Toby Chopra)
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