Beams tumble from MRTA building site
The Mass Rapid Transport Authority is being urged to upgrade safety standards on its Purple Line extension after nine steel beams fell on to vehicles at Bangkok's Tao Poon Intersection yesterday, damaging four vehicles and injuring one person.
At 9.45am, a crane lifted the 9-metre-long beams during construction of Tao Poon Station, but cables holding the beams got loose or broke, sending the beams crashing down on to two taxis and two private sedans waiting at a traffic light below.
A pink Toyota taxi’s front bonnet was slightly damaged, while a yellow Toyota taxi’s roof and rear luggage compartment were dented and its windscreen and rear window smashed. The yellow taxi’s passenger, Chawanrat Khamnui, 17, suffered a minor head injury.
At the same time, a black Honda City’s roof was dented and its windscreen and rear window broken, while a bronze Honda Civic’s rear window and left rear light were smashed.
The accident caused a traffic jam in the area as police and construction workers tried to clear the wreckage.
A glass pane in a nearby office owned by Nawanakhon International Guard Co was also broken by a fallen beam, which narrowly missed window cleaner Chai Preedecha, 55. Chai said he had seen things falling from the station at least three times before, but this was the worst incident.
“If I had ignored the noise of falling beams and kept working, I wouldn’t have been able to duck from the oncoming beam and would have been killed. I want this to be a lesson to the construction people to provide safety to residents and passing motorists,” he said.
The owner of the Honda City, public-works engineer Chalermpop Ubon, 34, said he was waiting for a green light when the beams fell on to his car, but he instinctively ducked down.
“I feel lucky that I wasn’t injured. As an engineer, I think this site had no safety system: They didn’t clear the area when a crane lifted something to prevent accident like this,” he said.
The driver of the yellow taxi, Sawai Suraso, 37, said he managed to duck when the beams fell on to his car but his teenage passenger was hit by the caved-in roof.
“This incident makes me feel unsafe. A construction site above the area used by motorists should have better safety system,” Sawai said.
A nearby resident and former defence official, General Kittisak Ratprasert, whose house was expropriated for this project, said this was not the first time things had fallen from the site. There were also many incidences of sparks from welding, as well as noise pollution and dust.
Calling for the authorities to probe the site and ensure its safety was improved, he said the construction work seemed to have been subcontracted and the supervising engineer ignored people’s safety.
Police questioned the supervising engineer and workers as well as the crane operator. They will consult experts to assess whether the construction tools and equipment caused the accident or human error or recklessness, before filing charges leading to compensation payments.
