BANGKOK -- Service on Bangkok's six-month old subway system was suspended for a week after more than 200 people were injured when an empty train crashed into one full of passengers during Monday morning's rush hour.

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The crash occurred at 9.30am when a train headed for the country's main railway station Hua Lam Pong was leaving Thailand's Cultural Centre station.

The train, which was packed with rush-hour commuters was hit from behind by an empty train.

The empty train had just left a maintenance station when it slammed into the crowded rush-hour train, said Praphat Jongsanguan, head of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority which is the operator of the underground train system.





'Procedures were not followed and that is what caused the accident,' he said, pinning the blame on human error.

Lights in the parked train at the Cultural Centre station went out as passengers inside were tossed about. But the doors quickly opened to allow their exit.

Some of the victims were bleeding as rescue workers carried them up the station's stairs to ambulances. Others, dazed and crying, were helped up the stairs to the street.

Local hospitals reported at least 212 people hurt in the accident, though many were treated and released, and the majority of those held for observations had minor injuries.

About two dozen people were seriously hurt, including the badly injured driver of one of the trains, who had to be extricated from his cabin by rescue workers. The serious injuries ranged from broken bones to internal bleeding, said Rama 9 Hospital deputy director Dr Termsak Kusolraksa.

The US$2.75 billion subway system opened on July 3 last year and is capable of serving about 200,000 passengers a day. Its single 20-km line spans 18 stations from central Bangkok to outlying areas.

City officials hope that the subway, which complements an elevated rail system popularly known as the Skytrain, will help ease the capital's notoriously congested traffic. The elevated system, launched in 1999, has suffered no major accidents. -- AP


extract from the Straits Times Singapore (copyrights SPH Ltd, Singapore)

The scary thing is it actually took them 10 minutes to find someone who had a key to open the doors from the outside. Everyone was trapped inside until the key was located as the doors would not open with the inside controls. Thank God no one was dying or there was no fire involved.
I don't know where the above story got the idea that the doors quickly opened. That is not what I understand happened.

Gotta love old Toxin's reaction to the accident quoted in today's BKK Post. He refuses to think there could ever be anything wrong with anything Thai.

" Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday blamed the accident on human error.

There was nothing wrong with the subway's computer system, he said, the accident happened because a ``lousy'' train driver failed to follow the safety instructions in the manual. "

Lovable Ole Toxin-- speaks first, thinks WAY later. No need for an investigation here.

These excerpts from The Nation newspaper quoting eyewitness and passenger--


Prapat Chongsanguan, governor of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority, said the empty train had just left a maintenance station where it received repairs when it slammed into the crowded rush-hour train carrying some 700 people.

He said officials were still investigating the cause of the accident, but an initial probe indicated that it was caused by computer failure.

Prapat told reporters at the scene that the driver of the empty train had been hospitalized with serious injuries.

Thanyashan Srithongkam, a 38-year-old lawyer, told AFP he was waiting on the platform with the crash happened.

The passenger train had just closed its doors and was still stopped at the platform, he said, adding that the empty train seemed to be going in reverse when they collided.

Passengers reportedly attempted to get out of the train, but there was no emergency exit and it took about 10 minutes for the guards had to find keys to open the doors.

Also a woman who was on the train--



One passenger, Wasita Buranasing, told Thai television that she heard a loud sound before the accident.

"Passengers were trapped inside the train for 10 or 15 minutes before the doors opened," she said in an telephone interview on television.

I heard the stations in the subway system have those double doors that must be aligned in order for the doors to open. The crash misaligned the doors obviously and no one knew how to get the doors open with the train out of place.

TITT--

They rush to get this thing open and have no idea what to do in emergency. Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling about the new airport they are FRANTICALLY trying to complete somewhere even close to schedule doesn't it ?? I heard a rumor that the second floor of the terminal building may collapse if too many people use it.

Skytrain is operating. It runs on tracks about 30 feet above the streets. Much safer in a fire situation.