BANGKOK, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Thailand’s Transport Ministry said on Friday that it had ordered a 15-day construction halt on 14 contracts involving Italian-Thai Development PCL as well as other large-scale projects overseen by the ministry, as it conducts safety inspections after two fatal accidents this week.
The decision follows a train derailing that killed 32 passengers in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima on Wednesday and the death of two drivers when their vehicles were crushed near Bangkok a day later, with both incidents caused by the collapse of cranes used on projects involving Italian-Thai Development .
The firm has said it would compensate those affected.
Chirapong Theppithuck, deputy permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry, said the halt to Italian-Thai’s projects would allow expert teams to conduct detailed inspections to ensure safety standards were being met.
He also ordered other major construction projects commissioned by the Transport Ministry to halt construction for up to 15 days for similar inspections, according to a statement.
The results would be reported to the ministry and legal and regulatory action would be taken if required, it said.
This week’s crane collapses were the latest in a series of fatal accidents at construction projects in Thailand, several involving Italian-Thai, including the fall of a partially-built Bangkok tower last year following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in neighbouring Myanmar, which killed at least 89 and led to charges of negligence against 23 people.
Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy, is in the middle of a massive infrastructure boom, building highways and high-speed rail lines across the country and expanding its elevated rail network in Bangkok.
(Reporting by Orathai Siriring and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by David Stanway)