In Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, a cargo train hit a public bus at a rail crossing on Saturday, according to emergency officials and reports from the crash site. The crash happened in the late afternoon near an airport railway station in central Bangkok, where the Erawan Medical Center said at least eight people were killed and more than 20 others were injured.
Video footage shared on social media showed the moments before the impact, with a line of vehicles stopped at the crossing. The footage depicted a cargo train striking an orange bus, with the impact also dragging nearby vehicles along the tracks. After the collision, the bus was engulfed in flames, and several motorcycles and their riders were thrown onto the road, the report said.
Later videos showed rescuers entering the charred bus after flames were brought under control. Thai news reporting said the emergency response focused on locating victims inside the vehicle while fire control efforts continued at the scene.
Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat told reporters at the crash site that all the bodies were found on the bus, and he said it remained unclear how many people were on board. When asked about reports that the bus had stopped on the railway tracks and that barriers used to keep motorists away may not have lowered properly, Siripong said the matter still needed to be investigated.
A witness identified as Kittipong Raksa said he had parked his car near the train tracks after hearing the signal that a train was about to pass. Kittipong said that he heard a “thud” and then another sound, that he saw the train pass while dragging the bus with it, and that after the collision he found someone caught under his car with a broken leg. Kittipong said he did not see the barriers being lowered.