4 Chinese nationals suspiciously remove documents from Bangkok collapsed building
Police summoned four Chinese nationals to acknowledge legal offences after they suspiciously removed documents from the collapsed building in the Chatuchak area of Bangkok without permission on March 29.
The impact of the earthquake in Myanmar on Friday, March 28, shook multiple buildings and residences in Thailand and continues to spread panic among people in the country.
The most affected building was the under-construction Office of the Auditor General of Thailand in the Chatuchak area. The entire building collapsed, burying multiple construction workers who were working there at the time.
The Office of the Auditor General was completely destroyed, while multiple other construction sites did not suffer as severe an impact. This has led the public to question possible corruption in the office’s construction.
The 30-storey building was constructed with a budget of over 2.1 billion baht, but many people have also raised concerns about the construction materials used in the project and whether they met quality standards.
Attention went to the construction contractors, China Railway Number 10 (CREC No.10) and Italian-Thai Development.
CREC No.10 was registered on August 10, 2018 with a capital of 100 million baht and managed to win the bid for the Auditor General’s Office project. Some found the company’s selection surprising, as it was relatively new to the Thai construction industry.
Suspicion surrounding the company grew after the recent actions of four of its members on March 29. They violated the Bangkok governor’s order by entering incident scene without permission. They removed 32 sets of documents from the site.
ThaiRath reporters spotted their actions and alerted the police, who later intercepted the four Chinese nationals near the scene. They claimed they were ordered to retrieve the documents to claim money from an insurance company.
The four Chinese nationals were temporarily released before being summoned for further legal proceedings at Bang Sue Police Station, yesterday, March 31. Details of the questioning and any charges issued against the suspects have not been disclosed.
According to Thai PBS, the four Chinese nationals may face charges for violating the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act, which carries a penalty of up to three months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to 6,000 baht, or both.
Photo via Facebook/ กรุงเทพมหานครAccording to the latest update on the rescue of the 96 people trapped in the collapsed building, the rescue team has found 13 bodies and has managed to rescue nine people. The mission continues with the assistance of the K-9 dogs.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt appealed to the families of 74 missing workers to remain optimistic.
“We must keep going. Don’t think about other possibilities. We must believe there are survivors because their families are hoping to be reunited with them.
“Don’t dwell on whether there are survivors or not. Our duty is to find them. We have to move forward and do our best until time runs out.”
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