At least 23 people have been found dead from an explosion in a Thai fireworks factory yesterday. Images shared by the local rescue team depict a huge black smoke plume coming out of a pile of debris.
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The factory is located in the Suphan Buri province of Thailand, which is about 120 km north of Bangkok. It happened at 3PM local time (4PM Singapore Time).
Police have yet to learn what caused the explosion. As it is less than a month before Lunar New Year, the demand for fireworks is high, so the factory was likely operating at a high efficiency level during this time of year.
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The factory was operating with a valid license and sees about 20 to 30 workers coming in daily. The police have yet to recover any survivors from the rubble and are still searching before confirming the death toll. Naiyawat Phademchid, Police Lieutenant General, told AFP News that they would identify the bodies once the situation had stabilised.
The factory’s surroundings were mostly unharmed, with only one house nearby reporting a broken window.
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Firework factory explosions are unfortunately not a rare occurrence in Thailand, which saw another explosion killing 12 and injuring over a hundred people in Sungai Kolok, Narathiwat province last July 2023. The explosion was attributed to performing welding work during construction, and the owners of the factory were charged with negligence. Just a few days before that, 11 were killed in a similar explosion in Chiang Mai.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has ordered an investigation into the factory’s operations and what caused the incident.
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