Recovery workers watch as a carriage of a train that crashed when a construction crane collapsed is lifted off the tracks in Thailand's Nakhon Ratchasima province on January 14, 2026. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand: A crane at a China-backed high-speed rail project in Thailand collapsed onto a passenger train on Wednesday and caused it to derail, killing at least 32 people, authorities said.
The massive crane's broken structure was left resting on giant concrete pillars, while smoke rose from the wreckage of the train below, footage from the scene verified by AFP showed.
The company contracted to build the section of the high-speed rail where the crane fell, Italian-Thai Development -- one of the Thailand's biggest construction firms -- has seen a series of deadly accidents at its sites in recent years.
The firm expressed condolences for those killed and the dozens injured, saying in a statement it would "take responsibility for compensating the victims' families and covering medical expenses for those injured".
Dozens of rescuers worked into the evening, using other cranes to remove wreckage and searching for missing people in the tilted carriages in Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeast of the capital Bangkok.
Mitr Intrpanya, who was at the scene, said he heard a loud noise "like something sliding down from above, followed by two explosions".
"When I went to see what had happened, I found the crane sitting on a passenger train with three carriages," the 54-year-old told AFP.
"The metal from the crane appeared to strike the middle of the second carriage, slicing it in half."
The Thai health ministry said 32 people were killed, three were missing and 64 were hospitalised including seven in serious condition.
A crane collapsed onto a passenger train in #Thailand on Wednesday and caused it to derail, killing at least 28 people and injuring dozens more, authorities said. pic.twitter.com/jQgDpzYDyL
— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) January 14, 2026
'Only company in charge'
The accident happened at a construction site that is part of a more than $5 billion project backed by China to build a high-speed rail network in Thailand.
It aims to connect Bangkok to Kunming in China via Laos by 2028 as part of Beijing's vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
Engineering consultant Theerachote Rujiviphat, an adviser on the high-speed project, told AFP Italian-Thai Development was solely responsible for the crane collapse.
Theerachote, from the China Railway Design Corporation, said the launching crane that fell onto the existing rail tracks also belonged to Italian-Thai.
"It is the only company in charge. A similar accident also happened a few years ago under their responsibility," Theerachote added.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said authorities must determine the cause of the crane collapse and hold those responsible to account.
"These kind of incidents happen very regularly," he told reporters in Bangkok.
"I have heard that it is the same company (involved in previous accidents). It is time to change the law to blacklist construction companies that are repeatedly responsible for accidents."
