THAILAND: NEARLY 140 INJURED DURING A RUSH-HOUR CRASH ON BANGKOK'S NEW UNDERGROUND TRAIN SYSTEM

Record ID: 383682

  • Title: THAILAND: NEARLY 140 INJURED DURING A RUSH-HOUR CRASH ON BANGKOK'S NEW UNDERGROUND TRAIN SYSTEM
  • Date: 17th January 2005
  • Summary: (BN4) BANGKOK, THAILAND (JANUARY 17, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SUBWAY STATION WITH RESCUERS AND PEOPLE CROWDED OUTSIDE 0.06 2. AMBULANCE 0.11 3. WIDE OF CROWD STANDING OUTSIDE 0.18 4. SV: SIGN READING 'THAILAND CULTURAL CENTRE' 0.24 5. VARIOUS OF MEDICAL OFFICIALS TAKING INJURED TO AMBULANCE (4 SHOTS) 0.57 6. SCU: TRANSPORT MINISTER SURIYA JUNGRUNGREANGKIT 1.06 7. SOUNDBITE (English) TRANSPORT MINISTER SURIYA JUNGRUNGREANGKIT SAYING: "The train that carried the passengers, they stopped in the station and then there was one empty train from the maintenance center came down and hit the train that was in service. That is the first information I received and I came to the control centre to check what really happened." "The train in service carried about seven hundred passengers and we got information that there are about 100 injuries." 1.46 8. WS/MV: STATION WITH PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE (2 SHOTS) 1.59 9. WS: POLICE OFFICIALS ON ROAD 2.06 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 1st February 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BANGKOK, THAILAND
  • Country: Thailand
  • Reuters ID: LVAEM77858LH4LII4YXDAUY90PJE
  • Story Text: Dozens hurt in Thai capital subway crash.


    Nearly 140 people were injured on Monday in a
    rush-hour crash on Bangkok's new, $2.8 billion underground
    train system, which has been fully open for less than six
    months.

    The crash, the first on the single-route, Bangkok Metro
    Co. subway that opened in August, occurred when an empty
    train collided with a crowded train stopped at the Thai
    Cultural Centre station in the heart of the capital.

    About 700 passengers were on board, officials said.

    "The train that carry the passengers, they stopped in
    the station and then there was one empty train from the
    maintenance center came down and hit the train that was in
    service. That is the first information I received and I
    came to the control centre to check what really happened,"
    said Suriya.

    "The train in service carried about seven hundred
    passengers and we got information that there are about 100
    injuries," he added.

    Witnesses spoke of a heavy impact, and then darkness as
    they struggled to clamber out of the stricken carriages.

    Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin said 139 people had been
    taken to hospital, of who about 60 had been kept in for
    further treatment.

    Prapat Chongsanguan, governor of the Mass Rapid
    Transit Authority of Thailand, which oversees the Bangkok
    Metro Co, said officials were trying to trace the cause of
    the accident by checking equipment at a maintenance centre
    near the station.

    The $2.8 billion subway, run by the Bangkok Metro Co,
    a consortium led by property developer Ch Karnchang, runs
    for 20 km (12.5 miles) beneath the traffic-laden streets of
    the sprawling capital.

    The 18-station system, which is designed to carry more
    than 250,000 passengers a day, is part of a $7.5 billion,
    110-km (68-mile) city-wide transport network aimed at
    resolving Bangkok's traffic woes by 2011.

    Bangkok Metro Co has declined to comment.


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