Residents in Thailand's Ban Thanon Khot are accustomed to the rumbling of trains – rail is a key mode of transportation connecting the remote town with major cities.
However, on Wednesday, the mundane rhythm ended in tragedy. The noise was abnormally loud. A huge, crashing sound, said school volunteer Pitchaya Promenade. I saw a blue crane sliding. It seemed stuck for a moment, and suddenly it flipped over.
The construction crane had collapsed onto a moving train, killing at least 32 people and injuring 66 others. Most were students and workers traveling for school and work.
The BBC arrived at a grim scene in the evening, with rescuers still pulling bodies out of the mangled train, parts of which were completely crushed.
If I had to describe the damage visually, it looked like a spoon scooping into a slice of cake, said Pitchaya, who is trained in first aid and was able to attend to some of those wounded.
There was an elderly woman hanging upside down [from a carriage]... Another woman, whose right arm appeared to be broken, was holding onto her.
One of the train carriages had caught fire from the collision, complicating rescue efforts. Emergency responders used cranes and hydraulic cutting tools to free passengers trapped in the wreckage.
People were screaming 'Help! Help!' and smoke was starting to rise, said restaurant owner Penporn Pumjantuek, who works nearby. Oil from the train was spilling everywhere.
She recalls being torn between fear and courage. I'm still scared when I think about it, she told BBC Thai. I still remember that moment, running in to help them, when there was no one else there yet. They were crying. It was terrifying.
A one-year-old and an 85-year-old were among those injured, with seven people in critical condition, authorities reported.
Local resident Suphann Imchantrik was among those who helped the one-year-old. The child was still breathing, but barely, he described. I saw those dead too… lying there. There were injured people. Everything was right there. It was a heartbreaking sight.
The crane involved was part of a US$5.4bn (£4bn) China-backed project to build an overhead railway linking Bangkok with southwestern China via Laos.
Many questions remain unanswered. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has called for an investigation, while the State Railway of Thailand has said it is suing the Italian-Thai Development Company - the firm responsible for the railway section where the accident occurred.
This is the same company involved in a previous construction disaster last year in Bangkok that occurred during an earthquake.
Engineering professor Amorn Pimanmas believes human error is likely the origin of the tragedy, emphasizing that no natural causes were present. Natural causes can almost entirely be ruled out as the origin of the incident, he stated.
Thailand has a history of deadly construction accidents attributed to insufficient safety standards enforcement. Previous incidents have resulted in numerous casualties.
Additional reporting by Kelly Ng in Singapore
