Construction worker killed in crane accident on Rama II, Bangkok

A construction worker was killed on the under-construction elevated road near Soi 72, heading towards Kanchanaphisek Road in the Samae Dam area, Bang Khun Thian District, Bangkok, at precisely 1.27pm today, January 18.

A sling snapped, sending the crane’s suspended basket hurtling to the ground on Rama II Road in Bang Khunthian district.

Rescue workers, racing against time, revealed that one worker tragically lost his life, while another now battles serious injuries, rushed to a nearby hospital for urgent medical attention.

Authorities from concerned agencies are on the case, launching a rigorous investigation into the cause of this horrifying incident. The construction of the expressway over Rama II highway has been marred by several accidents, leaving the city in fear.

This latest calamity follows a grim pattern of construction-related disasters in the region. In May last year, a construction worker met a tragic end, and four cars were mangled when a concrete slab plunged from the under-construction expressway onto Rama III highway, reported Bangkok Post.

Just two months later, in July 2022, chaos ensued when a colossal five-tonne, 10-metre-long concrete beam collapsed onto three vehicles passing under the U-turn bridge on the same road. Two lives were lost and five others were left with serious injuries.

In related news, a steel beam fell on a construction worker at the construction site of the Purple Line subway on the Suriya Theatre side of Somdet Phra Chao Taksin Road, Bang Yi Ruea, Thonburi on the morning of December 24, last year, causing severe injuries. The injured worker was promptly rushed to Taksin Hospital by the Po Tek Tung Foundation.

In other news, the wheel of an MRT Yellow Line carriage fell off and hit a taxi on Thepharak Road in Samut Prakarn province near Bangkok. Fortunately, the driver escaped any injury.

The taxi, a yellow and green Toyota Altis, was seen parked 100 metres away from the Si Thepha MRT Station. Its bonnet bore the damage from the spiralling wheel, which was found 20 metres away from the car.