Chinese rescue workers arrive in Thailand

The State Railway of Thailand revealed progress. The rescue team from China has arrived in Thailand. They are working with the State Railway of Thailand's rescue team to help workers from the collapse in the Khlong Phai railway tunnel. From the case of a landslide in the Khlong Phai railway tunnel, Khlong Khanan Chit section, Tambon Chan Thuek, Amphoe Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, which is a tunnel under construction for the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project, in the middle of the night of August 24, 2024, causing 3 workers who were drilling the tunnel to be trapped inside. Mr. Ekarat Sriarayanphong, Chief of the Governor's Office of the State Railway of Thailand, revealed the progress in helping the three workers trapped inside that today (27 August) at approximately 5:00 a.m., the Hunan Sunshine Rescue Team from China, which is a disaster area rescue team, with rescue equipment arrived at the scene to work with the State Railway of Thailand's rescue team to expedite assistance to the workers t rapped in the tunnel. In this regard, there was a meeting to summarize and understand the initial situation and the rescue plan according to technical safety measures, as well as to jointly determine the next rescue plan, which is in accordance with the policy of Mr. Surapong Piyachote, Deputy Minister of Transport, who ordered the State Railway of Thailand to coordinate with engineering agencies from the government and private sectors with expertise to strengthen the rescue team to expedite the assistance process faster under the highest safety standards. For the latest rescue situation last night, we inserted air pipes to pump oxygen into 2 points and pushed in 3 life-saving pipes with a diameter of 1.20 meters, length of 6 meters each (according to the plan, 5-6 pipes). However, it was necessary to pull out the life-saving pipes because they were stuck in a layer of rocks. Therefore, the rescue method was adjusted to create a support box to prevent additional soil and rocks from flowing down, which was a major obstacle in the rescue. In addition, Mr. Surapong has given a policy for the State Railway of Thailand to investigate the facts of the incident and report the real cause of the accident, including taking action to improve safety in accordance with standards, guidelines, measures, regulations, requirements, construction manuals, documents in the construction contract, and to examine the employment contract in terms of insurance responsibilities, compensation measures for the injured, including ordering contractors and consultants to supervise the work underway on the State Railway of Thailand's construction projects nationwide to strictly inspect the safety of all projects to prevent such incidents from happening again, with an emphasis on taking into account the highest safety of the workers and adhering to the work according to the safety standard manual as the main priority. If the incident happens again, the highest penalty will be imposed. Source: Thai News Agency