Two people have been killed when a crane collapsed on Rama II Road. The incident occurred just a day after a train collided with a collapsed construction crane, under the oversight of the same contractor, in Thailand’s northeast, leaving 32 killed.

The latest fatal crane collapse occurred on Thursday (15 January), crushing two passing cars and killing two people. It was being used in the construction of elevated expressway No.82 on Rama II Road in Samut Sakorn province.

The project was approved in 2021 by the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. Then Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob reportedly signed the project’s Integrity Pact.

Following the collapse, Deputy PM and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn announced the temporary suspension of all elevated roadway construction for public safety, stating that the Ministry would call upon all contractors to discuss and review safety standards. He added that contractors must fully comply with safety measures before resuming any construction.

Meanwhile, PM Anutin Charnvirakul later terminated contracts in two projects regarding the Rama II expressways under the oversight of Italian-Thai Development.

The incident occurred just a day after a moving train, No.21 travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani, collided with a fallen crane in Nakhon Ratchasima, resulting in 32 killed and dozens injured. The construction work is being handled by the same company involved in the Rama II Road incident, Italian-Thai Development, which, despite several fatal incidents in recent years, has continued to receive numerous state concessions.

According to Bangkok Biz News, the company won at least 213 state construction bids worth no less than 134,000 million baht since 2015. Since 2017, projects overseen by the company have also had five fatal incident, resulting in approximately 128 deaths.

Last year, Thailand witnessed the collapse of a 33-storey building, the only structure to collapse during a fatal earthquake, resulting in the deaths of nearly a hundred workers. The construction project was also overseen by Italian-Thai Development, and legal proceedings are still ongoing in the court.

These incidents highlighted how common deadly construction accidents are in the country.

Rama II Road, which serves as the main route connecting Thailand’s capital to the South, has been under construction for decades and has undergone several construction projects with different phases and contractors. It is one of Thailand’s most dangerous roads.  Since 2018, around 140 people have died in construction accidents. It has also seen over 2,500 accidents, injuring some 1,400 people.