Thai woman narrowly escapes injury as demolition goes wrong

A near-miss incident involving a building demolition and a woman in Sakon Nakhon, Thailand, took centre stage yesterday afternoon. The woman, employed at an eatery, narrowly escaped injury when a building under demolition collapsed unexpectedly, part of it crashing into the eatery.

The incident occurred around 2pm, yesterday, March 31, on Charoen Mueang Road in the Mueang district of the northeastern province. The building in question, originally four storeys, had been partially demolished leaving just the lower two floors standing before the collapse.

According to reports from the Public Relations Department, a backhoe was employed for the demolition process. The demolition firm intended for the rubble to fall into a vacant area behind the building, thus ropes were used to pull the structure down.

Contrary to plans, the building fell unexpectedly, impacting the neighbouring eatery. The woman, stationed behind an eatery counter, managed to flee just in time, as captured in the CCTV footage from inside the eatery.

Nathawat Wiriyanapaporn, the governor of Sakon Nakhon, confirmed that the demolition had proper licensing, and an engineer was overseeing the proceedings.

In the aftermath of the incident, he directed the cordoning off of the collapse site and the eatery. He further mandated the assurance of safe procedures before any further demolition activities could proceed, reported Bangkok Post.

In related news, in a major drug bust, authorities in Bueng Kan Province apprehended three individuals, including a prominent subdistrict headman from Sakon Nakhon, for smuggling nearly 10 kilogrammes of heroin.

The arrest took place yesterday afternoon at a border patrol police company in Bueng Kan, following a covert operation led by the local law enforcement and border patrol units. The suspects were caught red-handed with the narcotics, valued at approximately 9 million baht, along with a white Nissan sedan and three mobile phones, which have been seized as evidence.