Trains collide in Bangkok: 200 people are injured

At least 200 people were injured Monday when a &to= english.pravda.ru/world/2003/02/19/43476.html ' target=_blank>subway train slammed into another one stopped at a station in Bangkok. Bleeding victims were carried onto the street following the crash, which occurred during morning rush hour at the &to= english.pravda.ru/region/2001/09/09/14659.html ' target=_blank>Cultural Center station. The subway's manager said he believed human error was the cause. "Procedures were not followed and that is what caused the accident today," Praphat Jongsanguan told a morning news conference. He and the Thai transport minister said workers lost control of a train being taken out of service, which slid down a sloped area of the track. The underground system, which opened six months ago, will be closed indefinitely until the cause of the accident is determined, said officials, informs CBC News. According to Bloomberg, two subway trains collided in Bangkok, injuring at least 100 people and shutting the six-month- old system for the next several days. An empty train from a maintenance garage hit a stopped train with about 700 passengers aboard at 9:15 a.m. local time, Thai Transport Minister &to= english.pravda.ru/comp/2002/04/26/28052.html ' target=_blank>Suriya Jungrungreangkit said. The $3.5 billion, 20-kilometer (12-mile) subway system, Thailand's first, began operating in July to ease gridlock on Bangkok's roads. The government on Jan. 7 cut subway fares by as much as half to attract more passengers. Subway service will be halted for the next several days until tests show that the computer and other system are in good condition, Thaksin said. Bangkok Metro, which has a 25-year contract to run the subway, is 25 percent owned by Natural Park Pcl, 23 percent by Ch. Karnchang Pcl and 16 percent by Bangkok Expressway Pcl. Bangkok Metro will lose about 2.5 million baht ($65,000) a day from the closure of the service, Sombat Kitjalaksana, Bangkok Metro's managing director, told reporters.

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