Early Wednesday morning, a passenger train traveling from Bangkok to the city of Ubon Ratchathani struck a construction crane that had collapsed onto the tracks at the elevated high-speed rail project in the Sikhio District of the Nakhon Ratchasima Province, the PBS broadcaster reported.
The collision caused the train to derail and sparked fires in several carriages, according to the report. The second and third carriages were severely damaged, and most of the victims were passengers traveling in those cars, the broadcaster said.
The train was reportedly carrying about 195 passengers and staff.
The Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation dispatched emergency response teams and heavy rescue equipment to the scene of the incident, PBS said.
The Khaosod newspaper previously put the number of victims at four and of those killed at 40.
Passengers were trapped inside burning carriages, with firefighters and rescue teams having to simultaneously extinguish the fire and cut open the cars to free those inside, Khaosod said.