Digging for hope: 4 more bodies found at Bangkok audit office ruins
Rescue workers uncovered four more bodies buried beneath the rubble of the collapsed State Audit Office building in Bangkok, as desperate efforts to reach possible survivors ramped up.
At noon today, April 11, the scene on Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road, Chatuchak, in the capital was a flurry of action, with officials deploying more than half a dozen backhoes to dig through twisted concrete and debris in a bid to reach those still trapped.
The building, which was under construction, came crashing down after a powerful earthquake in neighbouring Myanmar sent tremors through Thailand on Friday, March 28, reducing the site to ruins and trapping over a hundred workers and civilians inside.
As of the latest update at 10.10am, the situation stands grim:
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103 workers and 10 civilians were inside at the time of collapse.
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27 workers have been confirmed dead.
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9 workers and 10 civilians are injured.
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67 people are still unaccounted for.
Phakphon Methipakdee, a volunteer with the Phetkasem Foundation, revealed that at 6am, as most rescuers were resting, his team finally broke through a hole in Zone B, a section they had struggled to penetrate for days, KhaoSod reported.
“We heard what sounded like an Android phone turning on. The sound stopped, but then we saw a light, a faint glow from below. That’s when we brought in the radar equipment.”
Cameras from the search team confirmed the eerie light was indeed from a mobile phone. Radar scans then revealed two or three human figures, with one body spotted just a metre deep, and another over 3 metres below, said Phakphon.
“There was no smell of decomposition. It really looked like someone was down there.”
Rescuers swiftly connected air supply pipes into the collapsed structure in hopes of supporting any survivors still clinging to life.
As the search intensifies, crews are racing against time and the crushing weight of concrete, praying they’re not too late.
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