Near Bangkok, a crane collapsed onto a road, crushing two cars and killing two people. This happened the day after a major accident where a train derailed due to a crane falling, killing 32 passengers.
Near Bangkok, a crane collapsed onto a road, crushing two cars and killing two people. This happened just a day after a major accident in the northeast of the country, where a train derailed due to a falling crane, killing 32 passengers. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
Thailand's transport minister said that the construction company Italian-Thai Development PCL, whose crane fell on a train in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima the day before, was also involved in the crane incident near Bangkok.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who faces general elections next month, said on Thursday that his government was moving to cancel two contracts with ITD related to the two projects where the accidents occurred, and vowed to file lawsuits against the company.
The Ministry of Transport has been instructed to terminate contracts with contractors, use all available legal mechanisms, and blacklist them
– he told reporters.
According to Transport Minister Piphat Ratchakitprakarn, the government also ordered the suspension of about a dozen active ITD state construction projects and initiated their inspection.
Italian-Thai, founded in 1958 by Italian and Thai partners, said in its statement shortly after the prime minister's speech that it takes responsibility for providing assistance, compensation, and damages caused by both incidents.
"The company will review and strengthen safety measures to ensure stricter and more comprehensive standards in the future," ITD said in a statement to the Thai stock exchange.
Addition
Thursday's incident occurred in Samut Sakhon province, where a crane used for the construction of an elevated highway fell onto the road below and crushed two cars. According to local police, two more people were injured.
This was another in a series of fatal construction site accidents in Thailand, several of which involved Italian-Thai. These include the collapse of a partially built tower in Bangkok last year, which killed at least 89 people during a 7.7 magnitude earthquake and led to negligence charges against 23 people.
Images from the scene on Thursday showed a mangled green crane and huge chunks of concrete that crushed the vehicles below. Video from the news outlet Thai Rath showed cars backing up, trying to avoid debris, amidst a cloud of dust from the collapsed concrete.
Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, is undergoing a period of massive infrastructure development – from elevated highways and high-speed railways to a significant expansion of Bangkok's elevated rail network.
Recall
On January 14, 22 people died and 80 were injured in Thailand when a construction crane fell on a train traveling from Bangkok. Among the injured was a one-year-old child.
