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A cargo train hits a public bus at a Bangkok rail crossing, killing at least 8

BANGKOK (AP) — A train crashed into a public bus on Saturday in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, killing at least eight people.

Thai news reported the crash happened in the late afternoon near an airport railway station in the central area. The city’s emergency services, Erawan Medical Center, said at least eight people were killed and more than 20 others were injured.

Footage of the moment of the crash shared on social media showed a line of vehicles had stopped at a railway crossing when a cargo train struck an orange bus. The impact also dragged several nearby vehicles along the tracks before the bus was engulfed in flames. Several motorcycles and their riders were also seen being thrown onto the road after the collision.

Later videos showed a group of rescuers entering the charred bus after the flames were brought under control.

Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat told reporters at the crash site that all the bodies were found on the bus. He said it was still unclear how many people were on board.

When asked about reports that the bus had stopped on the railway tracks and that the barriers, used to keep motorists away from the tracks when the trains are passing, may not have lowered properly, Siripong said the matter still needs to be investigated.

Kittipong Raksa said he parked his car near the train tracks when he heard the signal indicating the train was about to pass.

“I heard a thud and then another. I heard something hitting my car,” said Kittipong. “Then I saw the train pass, dragging the bus with it.” He said after the collision, he found someone caught under his car, with a broken leg.

Kittipong said he did not see the barriers being lowered.

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes, threatens to end talks to end the war

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” could come to negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks. Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas, without Iran's direct oversight sparked the crossfire now gripping the region. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic — setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran. Iran insists it alone must govern the strait after the war, upending decades of the world considering that the strait was international waters free for all, despite its sitting in Iran and Oman's territorial waters. Tehran has twice attacked vessels going through the Oman route, backed by a United Nations agency, in recent days. Early Sunday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship at sea early Saturday morning. That ship, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the United States.
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