Seven dead as Thai train derails

(AFP) – 1 hour ago

BANGKOK — A passenger train derailed in Thailand early Monday killing seven people and injuring scores of others, police said.

The overnight train, travelling from southern Trang province to Bangkok, came off the tracks 13 kilometres (eight miles) south of the coastal resort town of Hua Hin, they told AFP.

"From the information we have now, seven were found dead at the scene. They were all Thais. Forty-five people were sent for treatment at two nearby hospitals," said Police Colonel Krisna Jamsaweng, chief of Hua Hin's police station.

He said they were investigating the cause of the incident, which happened at about 4:50 am (2150 GMT Sunday).

Thailand's Channel 7 reported that more than 100 people were injured.

Six of the train's carriages derailed in the incident, which has led to the temporary suspension of rail services in the south of Thailand, a railway official told AFP.

"We hope we can clear the tracks as soon as possible and we expect the service to resume tomorrow. We are transporting several hundreds (of) passengers from four trains, including the one in the accident, to Bangkok," she added