BANGKOK: The chief of the Provincial Administration Department (PAD) on Thursday (Jan 18) ordered a recheck of safety measures at fireworks factories and warehouses in greater Bangkok following the deadly blast in Suphanburi province on Wednesday that left 23 workers dead.
Department director-general Ansit Samphantharat (pic) said the factory that exploded in Suphanburi on Wednesday afternoon was operating with a proper licence, which had raised concerns about security at other factories as well, especially those in densely-populated Bangkok.
Ansit said officials would check whether fireworks factories in Bangkok had legally obtained their licence and whether they strictly complied with safety measures.
The PAD chief said it had been confirmed that 23 people perished in the explosion at the factory in Suphanburi’s Muang district, including the woman who owned the factory and her son.
Casualties were contained as the factory was located outside the village’s community zone and was in the middle of rice fields.
The blast flattened the entire factory, which was also the house of the owner. All parts of the house were reduced to burning debris. Body parts of the victims were also scattered, making it hard for rescue workers to retrieve and piece together the bodies. The workers worked throughout the night, trying to retrieve body pieces.
The explosion site was plunged in grief as wailing relatives of the victims repeatedly called out the names of their relatives, hoping they had survived.
Ansit said two more bodies were retrieved on Thursday morning but they could not be identified so far.
All the bodies would be sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute at the Police General Hospital for identification through the lengthy process of disaster victim identification, the PAD chief added.
He said the cause of the explosion had yet to be established by explosive experts.
He added that the factory had received its licence in 2021 and it was renewed every year.
He admitted that there had been one instance of a blast in the factory in 2022, which killed one worker, but its licence was renewed in August last year following a hearing of local villagers.
In July last year, a large explosion occurred at a fireworks warehouse in Narathiwat province, killing 10 people and injuring 118, also damaging more than 200 houses because the warehouse was located in a community area.
Ansit said Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had ordered the area to be declared a disaster zone so that concerned government agencies could speed up assistance to the families of the victims.
The PAD chief said that the governor of Suphanburi would consider if it was necessary to set up a fund to help the dependants of the victims after it was reported that the perished workers had left behind many children.
So far, government agencies provided the following financial aid to the victims’ families:
Social Development and Human Security Ministry: 3,000 baht
Rajaprajanugroh Foundation: 10,000 baht for funeral services
PM’s Office’s fund for disaster victims: 50,000 baht for funeral services and 30,000 for cost of living plus 50,000 baht if the victims had children under 25 years old.
Justice Ministry: Will consider compensation not exceeding 200,000 baht for each victim
The local municipality will grant 29,700 baht per victim and the amount will be doubled to 59,400 if the victim was the head of the family. - The Nation/ANN
