Several foreign news agencies reported on a collision between a train and a city bus in central Bangkok, Thailand, with 8 fatalities confirmed and 35 people reported injured.
Multiple international news outlets cited Thai police disclosures that a freight train collided with a city bus, causing at least 8 deaths and injuring more than 30 people in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, on the afternoon of Saturday, 16 May.
Firefighters and rescue personnel sealed off the accident scene, with photos showing investigators examining the bus, which was burned down to its frame.
Meanwhile, officials cleared the congested city center intersection where the accident occurred, a location with tens of thousands of vehicles passing daily.
“There are 8 confirmed deaths and 35 injured,” Metropolitan Police Commander Pol. Col. Uramphon Khundechsamrit told AFP, updating the injury count from earlier reports.
The collision happened in the afternoon, with social media footage showing the train approaching the crossing at moderate speed before crashing forcefully into the bus, which immediately caught fire.
“The fire has now been extinguished, and we are working to recover the bodies,” Pol. Lt. Col. Uramphon said.
The Nation news agency quoted Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasukrit stating that preliminary checks indicated the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) bus was stopped at a red light, with the vehicle partially blocking the railway tracks.
Because of this, the railway crossing barrier could not lower. The freight train, carrying heavy container loads, was unable to stop in time.
The Thai Prime Minister’s Office announced that Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Channel News Asia (CNA) reported that Thailand frequently experiences severe traffic accidents with fatalities and often ranks among countries with the most dangerous roads and highest death rates worldwide, mainly due to speeding, drunk driving, and lax law enforcement.
In January, a crane collapsed onto a passenger train in northeastern Thailand, causing 32 deaths and dozens of injuries.
Additionally, in 2020, a freight train collided with a bus carrying passengers to a religious ceremony, killing 18 people. Three years later, a freight train hit a pickup truck crossing tracks in eastern Thailand, resulting in 8 deaths.
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Source:cna