Deadly Bangkok crash: Train driver tested positive for drugs, crossing guard also charged
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At least eight people were killed and 32 others injured in the accident.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BANGKOK – The driver of a train that collided with a bus in Thailand’s capital, killing eight people, has tested positive for drugs and was charged with reckless driving, police said on May 18.
The freight train crashed into the public bus on May 16 at a busy junction in Bangkok, with the vehicle bursting into flames and 30 people left injured, the authorities said.
Police charged the train driver, who was also injured, and a railway-crossing guard on May 17 with negligence causing injury and death, said Mr Urumporn Koondejsumrit, chief of the local police station in the area where the crash occurred. Both denied the charge, he told AFP.
“The train driver was found with methamphetamine and marijuana substances in his urine,” Mr Anan Phonimdaeng, acting director of the State Railway of Thailand, later told a press conference.
The driver was suspended from duty, he added.
Images on social media on May 16 showed the train approaching a level crossing at a moderate speed before colliding with the bus, which was on the tracks and stuck in traffic.
AFP journalists saw other damaged vehicles and a burned-out SUV near the crash site.
The government will pay families 2.39 million baht (S$94,000) in compensation per deceased victim, Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat told reporters on May 18.
The government was considering a plan to restrict where and when trains were allowed to travel through central Bangkok, senior transport ministry official Jiraroth Sukolrat said.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said freight trains normally travel through the capital at night, but the train that collided with the bus was delayed.
Bangkok police chief Siam Boonsom said on May 17 that there was traffic congestion at the crossing daily, but never an accident, and that police were reviewing footage of the scene to determine whether the crossing guard was negligent.
“We see the official holding the red flag which means the track was not safe but we also see that the train did not stop or slow down, causing the crash,” he said.
Footage of the crash site on other days showed vehicles stopped on the track, with officials raising the red flag to signal to oncoming trains to stop until the traffic cleared, he said, adding that the authorities were also investigating the speed of the train and its braking distance.
Local emergency services said eight were killed and 30 injured, with 17 still in hospitals as at May 17. The number of people injured was lowered from an initial report of 35 from police on May 16. AFP
