The tragic incident on Thursday still awaits official confirmation regarding casualties. However, according to Fire & Rescue Thailand’s Facebook page, which reports on the activities of volunteer firefighters and rescue teams, there is at least one confirmed fatality.

This unfortunate event took place at a construction site for an elevated road.

In a separate incident, the search for survivors from Wednesday’s train accident in Nakhon Ratchasima province has concluded, as confirmed by provincial governor Anuphong Suksomnit. Authorities suggest that the three passengers initially reported missing may have disembarked earlier, though investigations continue.

It is estimated that 171 individuals were aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being cleared from the accident site on Thursday.

The most recent mishap occurred on the outskirts of Bangkok, where a construction crane collapsed onto the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province around 9 a.m. The government’s Public Relations Department reported that the collapse trapped two vehicles beneath a tangle of large metal girders.

Rescue operations were underway, the statement added.

The construction project, an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious in recent years for construction accidents, some of them fatal.

At the train accident scene in Nakhon Ratchasima, work to remove the wreckage continued on Thursday, after search and rescue operations concluded on Wednesday night. The accident saw a falling crane derail and crush parts of the train under it.

The authorities said the crane that fell was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.

Narongsak Promta, the provincial police chief of Nakhon Ratchasima, told reporters at the site that police are working to verify the status of all passengers to determine the status of the three people listed as missing.

He said police are still collecting evidence and interviewing relevant parties and have not yet pressed charges against any party.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry reported that one South Korean national, a man in his late 30s, was among the dead. The ministry is providing consular services to the bereaved family.

The two-stage high-speed rail project on which the accident occurred has a total investment cost of more than 520 billion baht ($24.8 billion) and is associated with an ambitious plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.

Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.

A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would take responsibility for paying compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalisation expenses for the injured.

The rail accident sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction in March last year during a major earthquake.

About 100 people were killed in the collapse, which was the only major structure in Thailand to suffer such serious damage.

Dozens of executives were indicted in connection with the disaster but none have yet been tried.

The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday the government was aware of the reports about the rail accident and had expressed condolences.

It was not immediately clear which companies were involved in Thursday’s road construction accident.