SURAT THANI - A garbage truck crashed through a barrier into a train at a railway crossing in Phun Phin district on Tuesday morning, disrupting south-bound rail services until mid-afternoon as repair crews cleared and repaired the track.
The truck driver was killed in the accident, which derailed several carriages, put the train driver in hospital and injured seven other railway employees.
Services resumed about 2.15pm.
Pol Maj Kittipong Julasak, the duty officer at Phun Phin police station, said the accident occurred about 6.20am at the railway crossing near Moo 2 village in tambon Khao Hua Khwai, about 300 metres from Khao Hua Khwai railway station.
Train No.447 from Surat Thani to Sungai Kolok, with six carriages and about 40 passengers on board, was going through the crossing when a garbage truck operated by Surat Thani Municipality broke through a wooden barrier and crashed into the tail section.
The truck hit the 5th and 6th cars, severely damaging and them and derailing the train.
Pongpol Sae Lim, 44, the driver of the garbage truck, was killed. Seven people travelling in the 5th and 6th cars, most of them train staff, were slightly injured. They were admitted to Phun Phin Hospital.
The train driver, Pin Anthanon, 53, received serious injuries to his leg and left arm. He was admitted to Surat Thani Hospital.
The accident caused at least four South-bound trains to be halted at Surat Thani railway station.
Thanong Sasom, a senior official at Thung Song train operations centre, said a 300-metre section of track was damaged. A crane was hired to remove the damaged carriages.
He said buses were being arranged for almost 800 passengers waiting to get board trains at Surat Thani stations to take them totheir planned destinations.
Just three hours after the Surat Thani crash, the driver of a pickup truck was seriously injured when his vehicle was hit by a train at a railway crossing in Muang district of Surin province in the Northeast.
The pickup, loaded with chickens, was crossing the railway track at Ban Khok Mian, where automatic barriers are being installed. It was hit by train No.421 from Nakhon Ratchasima en route to Ubon Ratchathani.
Chaoowit Karaket, 35, the pickup driver, was thrown from the vehicle and admitted to Surin Hospital with serious injuries.
The front section of the pickup was sheared off by the impact. At least 50 chickens were killed, police said.
Any surviving chickens fled the scene.
The train continued on to Ubon Ratchathani after parts of the mangled pickup truck had been removed from the front of the locomotive.
Below: The derailed train blocks the tracks at a railway crossing in Phun Phin district, Surat Thani, on Tuesday morning. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)
