Building under construction collapses in Bangkok injuring 5

Over 100 Burmese workers fled to safety as a four-storey building under construction in Bangkok collapsed yesterday. Five people were injured.

At 4pm, officers at Makkasan Police Station were informed that an unnamed building collapsed onto construction workers on Soi Wat Uthai Tharam, Kamphaeng Phet 7 Road, Huai Kwang district.

Police, officials from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and rescue workers from the Por Teck Thung Foundation rushed to the scene.

The third and fourth floors of the four-storey building collapsed onto the second floor.

Rescue workers searched through the rubble to find three trapped Burmese workers, one male and two female, who sustained fractures to the head and bodily wounds.

Two more Burmese women fainted during the incident. All five were taken to Petcharavaj Hospital in Bangkok for treatment.

The project supervisor said the building would be a residential and office building with a 365-day construction period from July 8, 2022, to July 7, 2023. The company is contracted to build 10 buildings in a row on the road.

In total, 130 construction workers are hired for the project, most of whom are from Myanmar.

Moments before the incident, some workers shouted that the building was about to collapse, sending workers fleeing in all directions. Then, the third and fourth floors caved in.

As well as the five injured, 125 more construction workers were counted to confirm there was no one missing.

The project supervisor was taken to Bangkok’s Makkasan Police Station for interrogation, said Pol. Lt. Gen. Thithi Saengsawang.

Construction on the project has been suspended.

An initial investigation suggests that workers took mortar up to the highest floor and left it in one place as opposed to distributing its weight evenly, contrary to engineering principles, and the structure could not bear the weight.

The people responsible will be subject to legal proceedings, said Pol. Lt. Gen. Thithi.