The collapse of a pair of construction cranes over two consecutive days in Thailand last week killed dozens of people and prompted government officials to temporarily halt work on other projects led by the contractor, Italian-Thai Development PLC.
In the first incident on January 14, a crane used for a high-speed rail project fell on a train traveling through Sikhio district in central Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima province as it passed underneath, carrying 171 people from Bangkok Aphiwat to Ubon Ratchathani, according to the Thai Transport Ministry. At least 28 people were killed and 66 injured, local authorities announced.
The project is the first phase of a $5.7 billion, four-phase high-speed rail line planned to connect Thailand, Laos and China. More than 100 miles of the first phase are elevated, including the section where the collapse occurred over a working rail line.
The first phase, which covers about 155 miles in Thailand from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima, was more than 50 percent complete in November, according to the joint government project owner. It is divided into 14 construction contracts, and Bangkok-based Italian-Thai Development has been working on at least three of them.
Two more people died in a separate crane collapse involving the Italo-Thai development on January 15, according to the Transport Ministry. The second incident occurred near the Tha Chin River Bridge in Samut Sakhon province on a project to widen the Rama 2 highway, an elevated highway southwest of Bangkok.
In a statement, the Italian-Thai development said it took full responsibility for the incidents and said it would provide compensation to the families of the dead and medical attention to the injured. Italian-Thai is a major contractor in Thailand, listing a variety of completed transport infrastructure, energy and other projects on its website.
Investigations are still ongoing
Officials did not immediately identify the cause of the collapse of any of the cranes. The Thai Ministry of Transport announced investigations and Italo-Thai Development said it would work with officials to resolve the investigations and return to work. However, Prime Minister Anutin Charnivarukal threatened to terminate the government’s contracts with Italo-Thai, and the country’s transport minister announced that the contractor could face a government blacklist for alleged gross negligence.
Thai officials said they were halting construction on 14 Italo-Thai contracts as well as contracts for other major transport infrastructure projects for at least 15 days for an investigation into safety rules. The Ministry of Transport established committees to investigate construction safety incidents and to implement a new contractor evaluation and control system, Transport Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn announced.
The Italian-Thai has faced trouble for other recent security-related incidents. The contractor was working on the state audit building under construction in Bangkok that collapsed during a 7.7-magnitude earthquake last March. An investigation into that collapse revealed deficiencies in the 33-story tower, and Thai authorities charged 23 people with negligence, including Italian-Thai President Premchai Karnasuta.
