A recurring accident has led to the presentation of four hypotheses regarding the cause of a construction crane collapse onto a high-speed train carriage, which caused a fire before the carriage derailed, resulting in multiple injuries and deaths.
Following the incident where a launching crane used for high-speed rail construction collapsed onto a train in Si Khiew, causing several injuries and fatalities, Professor Dr. Amorn Pimarnmas, President of the Structural Engineers Association of Thailand, and a professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University, explained that the crane’s steel structure was a movable truss (Launching truss) used to build the high-speed rail structure incrementally. The part that fell onto the train passing underneath was the support base placed beneath the steel framework, weighing 20-30 tons each.
The exact cause of the support base's fall is currently unclear. However, initially, four possible causes have been hypothesized as follows:
1. The accident likely occurred after the bridge construction had progressed for some time and during the crane’s forward movement or while relocating the central support base onto the next pier.
2. The fallen part was the steel truss support base, weighing 20-30 tons, which fell and struck the train running below, causing the train to overturn with multiple casualties and injuries.
3. The impact caused the movable steel truss to break and rest on the bridge structure.
4. To determine why the support base fell, it is necessary to inspect how securely the support base was fastened to the completed transverse bridge beam, whether there were installation issues, and why it was able to fall.
Similar incidents involving falling launcher steel structures have occurred twice before,
Both incidents resulted in multiple deaths and injuries, highlighting weaknesses in safety measures for large-scale construction in public areas.
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