Three Workers Die in Thai Train Tunnel Collapse Despite Five-Day Rescue Effort

Three foreign workers trapped in a collapsed train tunnel in Thailand have died after a rescue operation that lasted over five days, authorities confirmed. The victims, two Chinese men and one Myanmar national, were initially believed to be alive as late as Thursday.

The accident occurred on Saturday in Pak Chong district, approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of Bangkok, when part of the tunnel they were constructing collapsed. The tunnel was part of the Thailand-China high-speed railway project and collapsed due to a landslide around 16:40 GMT.

Rescue teams, including officials from the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and a Chinese disaster response unit, worked tirelessly throughout the week in hopes of saving the trapped workers. Despite efforts to pump oxygen into the tunnel, it is unclear if the tubes ever reached the workers.

On Friday, authorities announced that all three men had died, likely due to a lack of air. The body of the Burmese truck driver was discovered under soil and rocks on Thursday. The bodies of the two Chinese workers—a supervisor and an excavator operator—were found early Friday morning, about 25 meters from the collapse site.

Rescuers had come within one meter of one of the men on Wednesday and had even detected faint sounds they believed came from the trapped workers. Scanners and sniffer dogs also picked up vital signs, including heartbeats, giving hope that the men were still alive. However, the rescue operation was slowed by ongoing landslides that continuously blocked the holes made by rescuers.

Thailand’s caretaker Interior Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, explained that the rescue efforts were hampered by “the limitation of engineering.” Rescuers had to be cautious not to cause further tunnel collapses and built 3-meter (9.8 feet) high supporting structures for their own safety.

The bodies of the three men were finally retrieved from the tunnel on Friday. Thai police have launched an investigation into the incident, and construction work around the tunnel has been temporarily suspended.