Collapsed crane on ‘cursed’ highway halts traffic in central Thailand

A collapsed crane blocked the outbound lane of Thailand’s “cursed” Rama II highway in the central Samut Sakhon province on Tuesday night. The collapsed crane caused traffic to come to a standstill, according to police.

The incident occurred in front of a petrol station in the main city district. Construction workers took about half an hour to remove the crane and allow traffic to resume, Nation Thailand reported.

Pol Lt Col Sophas Thanonthip, an inspector from Muang Samut Sakhon police station, said that a bolt that pinned the crane to its tractor base sheared off, causing the crane to tilt and fall, flipping its truck base. Sophas said the crane was being used to build an elevated expressway.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported as drivers managed to brake to a halt before hitting the obstacle.

Rama II highway has a reputation for its ‘never-ending’ construction work that has been blamed for multiple accidents. In August last year, a 3-metre-long metal bracket fell onto the road, nearly killing a driver passing beneath.

The news of the crane on Rama II highway comes after another incident with a collapsed crane killed a person in Thailand just last month.

On February 27, a tower crane collapsed and killed a Cambodian worker at a construction site in the Chatuchak district of Bangkok. Thai media reported that the crane’s sling was broken, causing the crane’s arm to crash down on the worker, 31 year old Sophanna.

Two other Cambodian workers were injured in the incident. One of the injured workers was brought to Paolo Hospital with minor injuries, while the other worker did not wish to go to the hospital. Bangkok’s Deputy Permanent Secretary Dr Wantanee Wattana, together with the director of Chatuchak district, Pornlert Penpass, went to inspect the site. The building consisted of a 29-storey office, a three-storey auditorium, and a seven-storey car park. It was contracted on November 23, 2020, and the construction period started on January 15, 2021.