Construction accident at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok injures 4

A construction accident occurred at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, today at 4pm. Four people were injured and one emergency police vehicle was damaged.

Workers were hoisting materials to the upper floors of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital opposite Lumpini Park with a rope this afternoon when 40-50 metal sheets suddenly fell onto the footpath below on Ratchadamri Road.

Four people standing on the footpath were injured including three staff from Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital and one security officer.

A 191 emergency police car with a Bangkok registration was damaged in the accident. The fallen metal sheets shattered the rear window.

Matichon reports that the incident occurred before PM Prayut Chan-o-cha – the United Thai Nation Party’s prime ministerial candidate in the upcoming elections – headed to the area to campaign today.

Construction workers and contractors refused to provide details about the accident despite being questioned by the police and Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, spokesperson for the PM’s office, who was in the area awaiting PM Prayut’s campaigning event, reports Matichon.

Officers from Pathumwan Police Station cornered off the area with rope to prevent people from entering.

Construction accidents are not uncommon in Thailand, where building and construction work is deemed one of the country’s most dangerous professions.

Three weeks ago, a Chinese man died when his head was crushed by a rubber moulding hydraulic press machine he was repairing at a tire factory in Rayong province.

Last month, an Italian sales manager was riding on a motorbike taxi when he was impaled and killed by a forklift near the factory he worked at in Samut Prakan province just south of Bangkok.

A Burmese worker was killed by a fallen lamppost at a worker’s camp, also in Samut Prakan, last month.

King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital is a public general and tertiary referral hospital in Bangkok operated by the Thai Red Cross Society. With an inpatient capacity of 1,435 beds, it is one of the largest hospitals in the country, serving as the teaching hospital for the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University and Srisavarindhira Thai Red Cross Institute of Nursing.