Arrest warrants issued over Phuket building collapse which killed seven

PHOTO: Matichon Online

Thalang District police yesterday issued an arrest warrant for the owner of a construction company responsible for the collapse of a building under construction in Thalang, Phuket, according to online news portal Matichon.

Seven Thai and Burmese workers were killed and another two injured following the collapse of the single story concrete structure at a new petrol station complex on Thepkasattri Road.

Police have have also interrogated construction engineers and charges were filed against them for negligence in the construction project.

Kritsana Pattanachareon, deputy spokesperson for the Royal Thai Police, says that an initial investigation into the collapse of a petrol station being built in Thalang, Phuket on Thepkasattri Road, resulting in seven deaths, indicated that poor construction standards were to blame.

“We were informed by police from the Thalang district station that a concrete slab being used in the conversion of a building in the Sai Si Ngyen complex into a gas station collapsed, killing seven workers – Thai and Burmese – instantly and severely injuring two more.”

The bodies of all seven victims were taken Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town. The search for bodies was called off just after sunset on the night of the collapse after police and emergency responders spent hours combing through the wreckage for survivors.

he four Thais killed were Jirachai Wonghajak, Thaweerat Daetphan, Mrs Pornpimon Waewwong and Krisana Kanbuth, all aged between 21 and 35 years old.

The three Burmese workers killed were Sa Aung Aung, Nay Myo Win and Mrs Kay Thi Khaing.

SOURCE: Matichon Online