42 Foreigners, Thais Injured In Bangkok-Surat Train Crash

[george]

BREAKING NEWS:

42 foreigners, Thais injured in Bangkok-Surat train crash

RATCHABURI: -- Bangkok-Surat express train hits truck in Ratchaburi, 42 Thais and foreigners injured.

-- TNA 2011-07-19

[george]

Train-truck collision wounds 42

RATCHABURI: -- Forty-two passengers, 19 Thais and 23 foreigners, were wounded when an express train hit a 10-wheel truck loaded with rubber wood at a railway crossing in Ratchaburi's Pak Tho district on Tuesday, reports said.

The Bangkok-Surat Thani express train taking a large number of Thai and foreign tourists, mostly destined for the resort town of Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, when it rammed into the 10-wheel truck at Ban Pho Kaew railway crossing.

Forty-two passengers, 19 Thais and 23 foreigners, were injured. They were admitted to Pak Tho hospital.

The truck driver was also wounded. He was admitted to Ratchaburi hospital.

Source: Bangkok Post 2011-07-19

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/247789/train-truck-collision-wounds-42

[thedoctor]

actually 42 casualties. hopefully none seriouse. god willing no deaths,

[sprq]

Very many people, including many journalists, confuse 'casualties' with 'fatalities'.

[SAffer]

Signalling problem?

[mallyrd]

Could have been signaling problems but the fact it was "push train" as against a "pull train" probably did not help matters.

[george]

Dozens hurt in Thai train crash

BANGKOK, July 19, 2011 (AFP) - Dozens of passengers, including 19 foreigners, suffered minor injuries when a diesel train from the Thai capital crashed into a truck on Tuesday, police said.

The train was bound for Surat Thani province, a popular tourist destination in southern Thailand, when it hit the vehicle.

"The truck was crossing the train track when the train arrived and hit it. It was at a spot where there is no barricade," said Police Lieutenant Somboon Murapan in Paktor district, Ratchaburi province, where the accident took place.

Among the injured foreigners were nationals from New Zealand, Denmark, the United States, Germany and Switzerland.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-07-19

[george]

47 injured as ‘Phuket express’ train slams into truck

PHUKET: -- An express train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, commonly used by travellers heading for Phuket, plowed into a truck at a crossing in Ratchaburi this afternoon, injuring 47 passengers on board.

“At about 10:30am, there was a big accident between an express train from Bangkok to Surat Thani and a truck at Moo 3 Pak Tho, Ratchaburi,” Lt Col Somboon Murapan, duty officer at Pak Tho Police Station, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon.

“The train had more than 100 passengers bound for Surat Thani on board. Luckily, none of the passengers were seriously injured,” he added.

However, the driver of the truck, reportedly fully loaded with rubber sheets bound for processing, was not so lucky.

“The truck driver and the train driver were the only people reported so far to have suffered serious injuries.

“The train driver suffered a broken arm, and I have yet to be informed of the injuries sustained by the truck driver,” Lt Col Somboon said.

He explained that the rail crossing where the truck was hit by the train did not have any gates to prevent traffic from crossing the rails while a train was approaching.

“The crossing has no boom gates. Only people living in the neighborhood know there is a railway there. The area is very dangerous even though there is a sign indicating it is a railway crossing,” he said.

“However, I have yet to complete my investigation of the accident. At this stage I do not have the full details about what happened,” Lt Col Somboon added.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-07-19

[EyesWideOpen]

How about....... Thailand takes the money that will be going to the planned submarine, and instead puts in barricades at each road crossing of the train track. ....

[unanimosity]

Very many people, including many journalists, confuse 'casualties' with 'fatalities'.

They obviously confuse wounds with injuries as well.

[asdecas]

Very many people, including many journalists, confuse 'casualties' with 'fatalities'.

And "wounded" with "injured".

[Scott]

Several posts have been deleted. The video is of the aftermath of the crash. The wording of the story is misleading, but that's not the topic of the thread.

If anyone has any updates on the condition of the passengers, please let us know.

I hope everyone makes a full recovery.

[FrancisTenta]

Watching the video, I saw the truck was not at a crossroad. Has anyone seen this?

[Tywais]

Watching the video, I saw the truck was not at a crossroad. Has anyone seen this?

Being hit by a train has a tendency to move a vehicle a bit. Appears the truck is 10-15 meters from the point of impact (crossing).

[jimbeam1]

Watching the video, I saw the truck was not at a crossroad. Has anyone seen this?

No but I did see a railway crossing, which the truck was not so far from.

jb1

[tommyboy928]

How about....... Thailand takes the money that will be going to the planned submarine, and instead puts in barricades at each road crossing of the train track. ....

Can just imagine the useless people in a Submarine . Will be on rock bottom sitting after short time ,or hit Phi Phi island, what a waist of money it is

[seahorse]

There is a stop sign. Obviously the driver of the truck did not stop or he would most likely have seen the train coming.

[trainman34014]

Could have been signaling problems but the fact it was "push train" as against a "pull train" probably did not help matters.

Push or Pull makes no difference. Safety is safety and rules must be followed in all railway practice but, there are numerous reasons I haven't got the time to go into why such things are more likely to happen in Thailand than many other countries.

By the way; I think you will find that this train was in fact a Diesel Multiple Unit and the engines are underslung so, bugger all to do with Push or Pull !

[johncat1]

There are many unprotected crossings in Thailand BUT they have plenty of signs to indicate an unmanned crossing, including multiple speed bumps to wake up the driver

But many Thai drivers do not even stop at a Red traffic light especially bus and truck drivers, so how can you expect them to stop if there is no signal or barrier ?

I am surprised there are not more accidents like this.

On the other hand Thailand does not have a frequent train service anywhere so the chances are there were only a few trains a day on this line.

Edited July 19, 2011 by johncat1

[moe666]

Well it would be nice if only happened in Thailand but we have a few idiots where I am from who are always tring to outrun the local commuter train. Needless to say it always is a no win situation for the idiot.

[LTGTR]

They weren't "wounded",they were injured.I hope they all fully recover.

Train-truck collision wounds 42

RATCHABURI: -- Forty-two passengers, 19 Thais and 23 foreigners, were wounded when an express train hit a 10-wheel truck loaded with rubber wood at a railway crossing in Ratchaburi's Pak Tho district on Tuesday, reports said.

The Bangkok-Surat Thani express train taking a large number of Thai and foreign tourists, mostly destined for the resort town of Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, when it rammed into the 10-wheel truck at Ban Pho Kaew railway crossing.

Forty-two passengers, 19 Thais and 23 foreigners, were injured. They were admitted to Pak Tho hospital.

The truck driver was also wounded. He was admitted to Ratchaburi hospital.

Source: Bangkok Post 2011-07-19

http://www.bangkokpo...ision-wounds-42

[LTGTR]

Thailand version of express means the train makes only 50 stops enroute as opposed to over 100 for a local train.

[Samuian]

The ONLY track down south, all the way to Malaysia and no secured crossing? TiT! mai pen rai.... mai pen rai...

[captspectre]

Very many people, including many journalists, confuse 'casualties' with 'fatalities'.

They also confuse "wounded" with "injured" wounded, inbattle, injured, hurt in accident

[Hannuman]

This is surely why, despite the superficial veneer of modernity and sophistication ,so evident in parts of Bangkok and Chiang Mai ,Thaland will forever remain part of the Third World .

[baboon]

This is surely why, despite the superficial veneer of modernity and sophistication ,so evident in parts of Bangkok and Chiang Mai ,Thaland will forever remain part of the Third World .

There are plenty of such instances elsewhere. Some of the stories I could tell you about my 15 years on the railway in Britain.....

It would be nice however,if they dropped the high speed rail plans and spent the money upgrading the existng infrastructure. Look at the state of the locomotives,for example,or the crossings with no gates....

[afarang]

The ONLY track down south, all the way to Malaysia and no secured crossing? TiT! mai pen rai.... mai pen rai...

Not quite correct.The first divide is at Thung Song Junction .That line runs off to Trang.Then it divides again at Hat Yai . One line runs to Sungai Golok.The other through to Malaysia ,-Butterworth, then by Malay trains to Singapore- eventually

[travelmann]

As I wait patiently at the level crossing in Thailand down by my condo at Lss Tortugas Hua Hin I often see many idiots pass me and weave round the barriers, when they get sliced in hald one day i will merrily drive passed their mangloed ccorpses.

For the cars I like the way they are half over the crossing with the barrier only half lifetd up, they just cant wait, then 50 metres over the other side of it stop to buy somtam........................ guess somtam just must be worth dying for

[Deeral]

Watching the video, I saw the truck was not at a crossroad. Has anyone seen this?

so you're assuming that after colliding with a train the truck stayed where it was.

BTW - those who think that "size does matter" take note - 43 or more people were injured on the train.

[normac44]

Could have been signaling problems but the fact it was "push train" as against a "pull train" probably did not help matters.

By the term "Push Train" do you mean the Loco was at the rear pushing the carriages in front as opposed to a "Pull Train" where the loco would be in the front of the carriages?