8 killed as train derails
Driver may have dozed off, says top SRT source
Published: 6/10/2009 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post:Newspaper section: News 
Driver carelessness is suspected as a possible cause of a train derailment at Khao Tao station in Prachuap Khiri Khan which has left eight people dead and another 88 injured.
The Bangkok-bound express train from Trang derailed at Khao Tao station in Hua Hin district at 4.47am yesterday.
It left Trang at 5.20pm on Sunday and was supposed to arrive in Bangkok at 8.25am.
Twelve of 14 carriages on the train left the track, with six of them overturning and one slamming into the ground. Four carriages were badly damaged with the first railway staff car being the worst hit.
The State Railway of Thailand has estimated the damage from one of the deadliest accidents in Thai railway history to be at least 100 million baht.
The train was driven by Roengsak Panthep with Uthai Raksakhet the engineer. Mr Roengsak fled the scene.
Normally, a train has one driver and an assistant who is an engineer.
The SRT said Mr Roengsak failed to slow the train when approaching Khao Tao station to switch over to a second track as the main track was occupied by a southbound freight train.
The northbound train was travelling at 105km/h, too fast to get on to the other track, and that caused the derailment, said PM's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey, who paid a visit to the scene.
SRT governor Yuthana Thapcharoen, who also rushed to the scene, believed human error was the most likely cause because the driver had ignored an alert from Khao Tao station staff about the parked freight train.
But the SRT governor also did not rule out two other possibilities: poor weather conditions caused by heavy rain and the train's old equipment.
Transport Minister Sohpon Zarum promised to shed light on the cause of the accident in five days.
A high-ranking SRT source suspected the driver might have dozed off before the accident.
The source said Mr Roengsak jumped the light at Wang Phong station, which is eight kilometres south of Khao Tao.
Mr Sathit said Mr Roengsak did not answer a radio call from Wang Phong to alert him of the other train parked on the main track at Khao Tao after seeing his train go through the signal light at Wang Phong.
SRT union leader Sawit Kaeowan said Mr Roengsak might not have been well rested before taking over control of the train at Chumphon station from another driver who was at the controls from Trang.
The labour union blamed shortages for staff being overworked. The SRT has been forced by a cabinet resolution issued on July 28, 1998 to replace only 5% of staff who retire or resign.
The SRT has 2,200 drivers who handle 200 trains and 2,000 engineers. "The present workforce is not sufficient," Mr Sawit said.
He said the SRT needed 300 more drivers and 500 additional engineers.
Most drivers end up working double shifts, the union leader said.
More than 100 local rescue workers and soldiers, as well as rescue workers from Bangkok and nearby provinces, were deployed yesterday at the scene to help the victims amid heavy rain.
Rescue workers found six dead women and a child, Kanoklak Thaboonruang, 2. The dead women were identified as Orapin Jaijit, 42, Narueman Nayasunthornkul, 50, Wimol Somjing, 43, her sister Kalayakorn Somjing, 41, Bowonrat Thivavej, 25, and Sanruethai Nim from Bangkok. The bodies were transported to Hua Hin Hospital.
The eighth victim found later yesterday has yet to be identified, Mr Sathit said.
Six of the injured were foreigners.
Most injured had their wounds treated and were discharged from hospital. Twenty-two were admitted to Pran Buri, San Paulo Hua Hin and Hua Hin hospitals.
Cranes were used to move damaged carriages and rescue workers collected passengers' belongings and sent them to Hua Hin and Khao Tao railway stations.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also visited the scene.
He said the southern line service could reopen today after all safety measures had been checked.
The accident caused the cancellation of 28 other passenger trains and five freight trains yesterday.
Search Option
Recent Posts
Todays Birthdays
