A crane at a China-backed high-speed rail project in Thailand collapsed onto a passenger train on Wednesday and caused it to derail, killing at least 32 people, authorities said.
The massive crane’s broken structure was left resting on giant concrete pillars, while smoke rose from the wreckage of the train below, footage from the scene verified by AFP showed.
Rescuers worked to extract passengers from the tilted carriages in Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast of the capital Bangkok.
Mitr Intrpanya, who was at the scene, said he heard a loud noise “like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions”.
“When I went to see what had happened, I found the crane sitting on a passenger train with three carriages,” the 54-year-old told AFP. “The metal from the crane appeared to strike the middle of the second carriage, slicing it in half.”
The Thai health ministry said 32 people were killed, three were missing and 64 were hospitalised including seven in serious condition.
The accident happened at a construction site that is part of a more than $5 billion project backed by Beijing to build a high-speed rail network in Thailand.