At least nine people were killed and more than 100 others injured when firecrackers kept in a warehouse exploded in southern Thailand yesterday, officials said.
The firecrackers exploded and set off a fire at the unauthorised warehouse at the Muno market in Sungai Kolok district in the southern province of Narathiwat bordering Malaysia, Narathiwat’s governor Sanan Phongaksorn told Reuters.
The explosion is thought to have been caused by welding operations during construction work on the building.
“The fire is under control and police will investigate the cause thoroughly again,” Sanan said. “Preliminary investigation suggests the cause is a technical error during the steel welding process, as the building is under construction.”
“There are nine deaths now, but there may be more as unidentified human remains have been found,” he added.
About 115 people were injured and sent to hospital, Sanan said, adding that 106 of them had returned home.
More than 200 houses surrounding the warehouse were damaged by the explosion, affecting 365 people, with around 20-30 families staying at a shelter, Sanan said.
Footage on local media showed a huge plume of smoke rising into the air and numerous shops, homes and vehicles badly damaged by the force of the blast – some ablaze and some with their roofs blown off.
AFP photos from the scene show the warehouse reduced to rubble and twisted metal.
Broadcaster Thai PBS reported that as many as 500 houses were damaged by the explosion in the border town.
“I was playing with my phone inside the house when I heard a loud, thunderous noise and my whole house shook,” eyewitness Seksan Taesen, who lives 100m (110 yards) away from the warehouse, told AFP. “Then I saw my roof was wide open. I looked outside and I saw house collapsing and people lying on the ground everywhere. It was chaos.”
Video shot by Seksan showed a scene of turmoil at a local market, with dazed locals wandering around and emergency services rushing to help.
Broken glass, roof tiles and other debris litter the ground.
Thailand has a poor safety record in the construction sector and deadly accidents are common.
Last month two people were killed when a bridge under construction in Bangkok collapsed onto traffic.
People look at the aftermath of destroyed homes after an explosion ripped through a firework warehouse, killing nine people and injuring more than 100, in Sungai Kolok district in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat.
