Bangkok governor wants to control crowds at train stations after accident

Following the accident where 27 people got injured falling down an escalator, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt is looking to decrease overcrowding at train stations.

The governor said that one possibility could be to limit the number of people that can enter crowded stations. Chadchart said this would possibly be an option pending consultation with train operators.

Chadchart said today that he has now assigned his deputy to work with the operators of the BTS, MRT, and Airport Rail Link lines to handle riders rushing to their trains.

Chadchart noted that these crowding incidents like the one last night can happen when trains are delayed, or at stations close to venues hosting concerts or other big events with many people.

Last night’s accident at Bangkok’s BTS Surasak station left 27 people with minor injuries.

A deputy inspector at Yannawa Police Station, Lieutenant Colonel Somyot Bunnakaew, said a group of teenagers had attended a concert at Bangkok Christain School held to mark its anniversary.

Somyot said that someone slipped, causing the group to all fall down the stairs. Altogether, 27 people had minor injuries and were taken to nearby hospitals.

Video footage of the incident circling on Twitter shows the large crowd of people falling backward on an escalator going up.

Earlier, rescuers from a local foundation had claimed that the accident was caused by the escalator malfunctioning. But BTS later released a statement saying that an initial inspection found that the escalator had not malfunctioned.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post