Five injured in gas plant explosion near Bangkok

Five people were injured, three seriously, following an explosion at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant in the Samut Prakarn province near Bangkok in the early hours of this morning.

One of the big cylinders is believed to have exploded, spreading to others, and started a blaze at the V.I.P Petroleum plant, in the Bang Sao Thong district of Samut Prakarn province.

Five Burmese employees, who lived near the plant in workers’ houses in the area, were injured in the fire, them of them seriously.

A rescue team and firefighters’ report revealed there were a number of flammable items in the area, such as houses, cars, motorcycles, and tyres. It made the fire bigger and more dangerous. The area is also surrounded by LPG gas which is highly flammable.

Firefighters and officers spent about one hour turning all LPG’s valves off to help control the situation.

A 42 year old worker, Anuchit Jaidee, made public that the gas plant has about 30 workers, both Thais, and migrants. They start work at 8am and finish at 5pm, but added no one was working inside the plant during the explosion, which happened at 12.20am.

Workers living in accommodation near the gas plant heard the loud explosion, went to investigate, and consequently, five of them got hurt.

The gas plant is owned by Wadarat Keerapakdeepong. The 51 year old has been operating the plant for 10 years.

Firefighters have closed the area to avoid the spread of LPG gas and are closely monitoring the situation.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

SOURCE: Thairath