UPDATE: Couple narrowly escapes death as steel beam falls onto Bangkok expressway

UPDATE:

The construction company responsible for the steel beam which fell onto a busy Bangkok expressway has agreed to pay 300,000 baht in compensation to the couple inside the pickup truck, which was flung into the air when it collided with the beam, as seen in the dashcam footage below.

The couple – Sarawut Warapieng and Moree Warapieng – went to Samut Sakhon Police Station to negotiate compensation with Kornpak Kanchonootai, a representative of the construction company.

Kornpak’s company agreed to pay compensation of 300,000 baht and 100% of all car repairs and medical expenses incurred by the incident. The company must send the money to Samut Sakhon Police Station before July 29.

The construction company said they will ensure further security measures are implemented to ensure no incident like this happens again. The exact cause of the fallen beam has not been confirmed.

SOURCE: KhaoSod

ORIGINAL STORY:

Dashcam footage reveals the terrifying moment a heavy steel beam fell 20 metres through the air onto a busy expressway in Bangkok. The beam landed just metres in front of an oncoming pickup truck which was flung into the air as the wheels collided with the beam. Miraculously, the couple inside the pickup truck came out of the incident unharmed.

The couple’s daughter posted the clip on Twitter on Sunday with the caption…

“A steel beam fell from the road which is under construction. It collided with my Mum and Dad’s car, which flew into the air, while they were on the way home. My heart sank when my Mum called me to tell me. The beam just missed the windscreen. My Mum told me and I started crying. Why so careless? I only have two parents.”

As seen in the video, an overhead road can be seen under construction above the Rama II Road in Bangkok…

Construction accidents are sadly not rare in Thailand. On Labor Day earlier this year, a Burmese construction worker was killed and five other workers were injured when their scaffolding collapsed in Bangkok’s Bang Sue district. The day before, another worker was killed in a forklift accident just south of Bangkok in Samut Prakan province.

Thailand has laws in place to prevent such incidents from occurring, such as the Factory Act 1992, the Building Control Act 1979, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Act 2011. However, in reality, Thailand’s haphazard infrastructure is the cause of innumerable serious and sometimes fatal accidents.

Thailand also has one of the highest road traffic death rates in the world, with most accidents involving motorcyclists. It is not only dangerous driving that causes road deaths, but also poor infrastructure. Poorly-lit roads, unfinished construction work, and obstructions are often the cause of serious and fatal accidents in Thailand. On average, 56 people die on Thailand’s roads every day.

The World Bank partnered with the International Road Assessment Programme and Chulalongkorn University to undertake assessments of more than 1,000 kilometres of roads of high-risk roads during 2015-2018. More than 8 kilometres of roads have been improved since, including roads in Asoke, Silom, and Yaowarat.

SOURCE: Twitter