Human Error Blamed For Subway Accident Injuring More Than 200 In Thailand's Capital

Jan. 17, 2005
A subway train slammed into another one stopped at a station during morning rush hour Monday, injuring more than 200 people, six months after the subway system opened in the Thai capital, police and officials said.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- A subway train slammed into another one stopped at a station during morning rush hour Monday, injuring more than 200 people, six months after the subway system opened in the Thai capital, police and officials said.

Some of the victims were bleeding as rescue workers carried them up the stairs of the Cultural Center station to ambulances. Others, dazed and crying, were helped up the stairs to the street.

Local hospitals reported at least 212 people hurt in the accident, most with minor injuries. About two dozen people were seriously hurt.

``Procedures were not followed and that is what caused the accident today,'' said Praphat Jongsanguan, head of the company managing the subway, pinning the blame on human error.

At a press conference, he and Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreunkij described how workers lost control of a train being taken out of service, which then slid down a sloped area of track in less than a minute into another train packed with people.

Initially, the company blamed the crash on computer error, saying its high-tech monitoring system had been experiencing intermittent failure, and may have temporarily lost track of the train.

Suriya, who earlier said the system would be closed indefinitely until the cause of the accident could be ascertained, announced at the press conference that it will begin operating again in a week.

The subway system opened to the public in July. As part of an effort to ease Bangkok's notoriously heavy traffic, it links at three stations with elevated rail lines launched in 1999. The elevated system has suffered no major accidents.

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