At least 20 dead and dozens injured after train collided with bus near Bangkok

BANGKOK: At least 20 people were killed and more than 40 injured after a freight train collided with a tour bus near Bangkok on Sunday (October 11), authorities said.

The collision occurred around 8 a.m. (9 a.m. Singapore time) at Khlong Khwaeng Klan Station in Chachoengsao province, about 50 kilometers east of the capital Bangkok.

About 60 passengers were traveling on the rented bus from neighboring Samut Prakan province to a temple in Chachoengsao, said the province’s governor, Maitree Tritilanond.

They planned to offer yellow robes to monks, a traditional ceremony that takes place a month after the end of Buddhist Lent, he told reporters.

The bus was on the track when the train crashed, the province’s disaster management agency said. There was no barricade, he added.

Dozens of injured passengers were rushed to nearby medical facilities for treatment, said the provincial hospital director Sombat Chutimanukul.

“Four are in critical condition and eight remain under observation” of the 23 admitted to his hospital, he told reporters.

By late afternoon, more than 30 passengers who had suffered minor injuries were sent home, a local police chief said.

Images shared by a government department showed the bus pulling off the highway onto the train tracks before a blue freight train crashed into its side.

“I was frozen in fear when I saw the accident … It was a terrible sight,” said Pitchitra Thongwichit, 34, who lives near the tracks.

“All the passengers were groaning and asking for help.”

The first images of rescuers showed twisted metal and debris, with bodies lying next to the train tracks and people’s belongings scattered around. The bus rolled on its side and the top was ripped off

Factory worker Samruan Thongdee said he was having breakfast nearby when he heard the crash.

“I called my colleagues to come help before the emergency workers arrived,” the 57-year-old told AFP. “I managed to get a woman out of the rubble and helped her up onto the train platform.”

Rescuers carried the injured on stretchers to nearby parked ambulances, and two tow trucks arrived early in the afternoon to pull the vehicle off the tracks so police could better assess the carnage.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident, said the Chachoengsao Office for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Governor Maitree said the crossing has an alarm but no barrier to block traffic when a train is approaching. He said the province will install buffers and barriers, and will also cut trees near the crossing to improve visibility.

“Let this case be a lesson, and we will make improvements at risk locations so that such accidents do not happen again,” Maitree said in a statement.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed his condolences and instructed authorities to investigate the cause of the accident, a government spokesman said in a statement.

These fatal accidents are common in Thailand, which regularly tops the lists of the world’s deadliest roads, with speeding, drunk driving, and weak law enforcement – all contributing factors.

Thailand has the second highest traffic accident death rate in the world, according to a 2018 World Health Organization report.

Although the majority of the victims are motorcyclists, bus accidents involving groups of tourists and migrant workers often make the headlines.

In March 2018, at least 18 people were killed and dozens injured when a bus carrying people returning from their vacations in northeast Thailand ran off the road and crashed into a tree.

Travel across the kingdom was disrupted this weekend by a major storm that hit the region, leaving roads in poor condition and some provinces inundated by large-scale flooding.