Tunnel in Thailand collapses, 2 dead

ILLUSTRATION PIXABAY

JAKARTA - A tunnel collapsed in a railway construction area in northern Thailand, killing two people and injuring two others.

Local authorities, quoted by Thailand News Agency TNA-MCOT, said heavy rain was suspected to be the cause of the tunnel collapse.

The incident occurred in the Doi Luang tunnel project area, a new train line in Chiang Rai Province.

Dilansirr ANTARA, Tuesday, June 23, authorities identified one of the victims as a Thai citizen, while the other was from Myanmar.

Chiang Rai Governor Choocheep Pongchai has inspected the area and explained that the disaster was allegedly an accident due to prolonged heavy rain.

According to the Governor, the incident did not affect the main building structure of the train line project.

In addition, the project development engineer explained that heavy rain had weakened the unstrengthened point in the 3.4-kilometer tunnel wall. The construction of the section at the tunnel point has reached 75 percent.

The Thai Railway Company (SRT) requested a two-day delay in work in the area to give a number of experts to examine the strength of the building structure and conclude the exact cause of the incident.

The SRT company explained that the contractor would provide full compensation and health insurance to the accident victims.

In addition, the Deputy Minister of Transportation of Thailand, Pattarapong Phataraprasit, said that a number of related authorities were investigating whether there were technical factors or negligence that caused the collapse.

Construction of the 85.3 billion baht (around Rp46.38 trillion) train line project is scheduled to be completed in January 2028.