A crane collapsed onto a train, killing at least 28 passengers and injuring dozens more in Thailand this morning.
The Special Express Train Number 21 was taking around 195 locals and tourists from the capital, Bangkok, to Nakhon Ratchasima province when the construction equipment plunged onto the tracks.
Passengers screamed as the crane, which had been working on a high-speed rail project linking Thailand and China, smashed into the vehicle and sent debris landing on the carriages.
The impact caused one train carriage to derail and another to catch fire. Several of the cars were left overturned in the crash at around 9am local time in the Ban Thanon Khot district of Nakhon Ratchasima.
Police and paramedics arrived at the scene, where they treated injured passengers.
Many were trapped inside the mangled carriages, but all individuals have now been evacuated from the scene, according to the Thai health ministry.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health said that among the seven seriously injured were a one-year-old girl and an 85-year-old. It is reported that at least 80 people have sustained injuries following the crane collapse.
Many of the seriously injured suffered wounds on their head, faces, chests, and legs.
Smoke billowing from the wreckage of a passenger train after a construction crane collapsed onto it in Sikhio district, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, 14 January 2026
At least 28 people were killed and more than 80 others injured when the crane fell on the Special Express No. 21 train traveling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani, according to local police
Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn confirmed there were 195 passengers and staff on board the train at the time of the accident
Police and paramedics arrived at the scene, where they treated injured passengers. Many were trapped inside the mangled carriages
Victims were taken to the Sikhio Hospital, Sung Noen Hospital, and Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital.
Police superintendent Thatchapon Chinnawong said earlier this morning: ‘The construction crane collapsed onto a running train leaving from Bangkok.
‘At this stage, we are still unable to confirm the identities of the deceased, but the injured victims trapped inside the train have all been evacuated.
‘The death toll currently stands at 22, with more than 50 people injured. Rescue teams are now working urgently to recover the wreckage.’
Dao Boonpanya, 70, a survivor who clambered from the wreckage, said: ‘While the train was travelling, I was asleep and I suddenly heard a loud crash as a crane fell onto the roof of the train, then the locomotive dragged the crane along, causing the carriage to be torn off the tracks.’
A railway construction worker added: ‘The crane being used for the high-speed rail project suddenly broke and fell down.
‘At that exact moment, the train involved in the accident was passing through the area, then the second and third carriages became entangled with the crane, causing the train to derail.’
Another survivor, a train staff member, told how he and other passengers were ‘thrown into the air’ after the crane smashed into the locomotive.
Officials said the crane was being used in the construction of a concrete platform for a new £4billion high-speed train project that would connect Bangkok to Kunming in China.
At a daily press briefing on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of projects and personnel, adding that according to its current understanding, the section involved was being constructed by a Thai company.
The Governor of the State Railway of Thailand has now been urged to ‘thoroughly and comprehensively’ investigate the cause of the accident.
Thai PM Anutin Charnvirakul this morning called for ‘someone [to] be punished and held accountable’ for the incident.
While the cause of the accident remains unclear, Charnvirakul said he believed it could be due to a few factors, likely related to negligence, according to BBC Thai.
He noted that the project had experienced ‘several incidents before’, citing a tunnel collapse about a year ago.
Several of the cars were derailed in the crash at around 9 am local time in the Ban Thanon Khot district of Nakhon Ratchasima
Following the incident, the State Railway of Thailand has made changes to more than a dozen train services
Officials work at the site where a train was derailed when a construction crane collapsed and fell onto its carriages
Officials said the crane was being used in the construction of a concrete platform for a new £4billion high-speed train project that would connect Bangkok to Kunming in China
‘Accidents like this can only happen due to negligence, skipped steps, deviations from the design, or the use of incorrect materials,’ he said.
Charnvirakul added that officials would ‘need to investigate whether there were any construction errors or deviations from proper procedures’.
The British Ambassador to Thailand, Mark Gooding, took to X this morning, stating he is ‘deeply saddened by the tragic accident’.
‘My thoughts are with all those affected. The UK stands with Thailand at this difficult time,’ he wrote in a post.
Known officially as the Bangkok-Nong Khai HSR Development for Regional Connectivity, its website lists an Italian-Thai Development Company as the firm in charge of the Lam Takhong-Sikhio section where the incident took place.
The company is one of Thailand’s biggest contractors and is the same firm that was behind the Bangkok building, which collapsed last March during an earthquake.
In 2025, the company’s president and several designers and engineers were charged with professional negligence over the incident.
Following the incident, the State Railway of Thailand has made changes to more than a dozen train services.
Two train services have been cancelled, while 12 train services will have their routes changed.
Passengers who have purchased tickets for the affected routes are entitled to a full refund, the state-owned railway operator said in a statement.
