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BANGKOK : Bangkok's subway system will be shut down for at least a week as Thai authorities investigate the cause of a train collision in the heart of the capital.
Nearly 200 people were injured when a maintenance car slammed into a train packed with 700 passengers during the morning rush hour.
Many injuries are light, but some passengers sustained broken limbs, while others suffered internal bleeding.
Mr Suriya Jungrungreangkit, Thailand's Transport Minister, said: "The train that carries the passenger, they stopped in the station and then there was one empty train from the maintenance centre, came down and hit the train that was in service. That is the first information I received and I came to the control centre to check what really happened."
According to one official, a failure of the computerised safety system is to blame.
But Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra cautions that the cause could be human error.
The Transport Minister shut the system down to run tests and make sure all personnel are following the same procedures.
The US$2.8 billion subway was opened just last August, and had been struggling to attract customers, with daily ridership at nearly 100,000 below target.
With the accident, it will be that much harder for officials to build confidence in the system.
Bangkok's subway is critical to the government's plan to alleviate the city's notorious traffic and build a more efficient capital.
It is also key to the Prime Minister's plan to win urban voters in the upcoming election, with generous new investments in infrastructure.
Mr Thaksin wants to expand the subway and other mass transit systems with over 200 kilometres of new lines that could serve close to a million passengers a day.
As Thailand moves at light speed toward a better future, it may sometimes go faster than the system can handle. - CNA
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