• Dozens killed and injured as train collides with crane
• Train cars overturned and fire breaks out during high-speed railway project

At least 29 people were killed and dozens injured after a construction crane fell onto a train in northeastern Thailand, causing some of its carriages to overturn.

Thirasak Wongsongnon, one of the train workers, said the accident occurred around 9:10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, about three hours after the train departed Bangkok, heading to Ubon Ratchathani province.

Photos and video footage from the scene showed a broken crane on the tracks and overturned carriages, while rescue teams searched through the metal and debris for survivors.

At least 67 people were injured in the accident, eight of them in critical condition, according to the Public Health Office in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

Local police indicated that there are still bodies trapped in the wreckage that have not been recovered.

The train, composed of three carriages, was carrying about 200 people and traveling at roughly 120 kilometers per hour when it collided with the crane and overturned.

The second and third carriages sustained heavy damage, and the accident caused a fire in the second carriage.

Thirasak added that he rushed to help the injured passengers but faced difficulty reaching the second carriage due to the spreading fire.

The crane was being used in the construction of part of an elevated high-speed railway, part of a Thai-Chinese project connecting Bangkok to Nong Khai province near the Laos border, as part of Beijing’s plan to link China with Southeast Asia under the “Belt and Road” initiative.

Thai Transport Minister Vifa Ratchaketprakorn announced that he had ordered an urgent investigation into the accident.

It is noted that Ubon Ratchathani province is located in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand, on the border with Laos and Cambodia, and the train line leading there is not as popular with tourists compared to the north-south lines.