At least 22 people were killed on Wednesday in an explosion at a Suphan Buri fireworks factory where a blast a year ago left one person dead and three injured. About 10 more people are said to be missing.
The explosion occurred in tambon Salakhao of Muang district around 3.30pm.
The blast spread debris in a radius of 100 metres, with human remains scattered everywhere.
Local residents said that about 20 workers had arrived to work at the factory in the morning and that they saw nobody come out after the explosion.
“We cannot tell whether all the workers were killed. The officials are entering the site to investigate. They have not found any survivors,” provincial governor Nattapat Suwanprateep told Reuters earlier.
The factory owner was not among the dead because he had gone out to deliver fireworks to customers at the time, an official said.
The factory was operating out of a farmhouse where gunpowder and other raw materials for fireworks were stored.
There were reports that an explosion at the same factory in November 2022 killed one person.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the blast.
Records show there were 24 explosions at fireworks factories and warehouses over the 15 years between 2008 and 2023, with each incident causing extensive damage including many deaths and injuries.
Many illegal fireworks factories and warehouses that lack standards are located in different communities throughout Thailand, according to Sonthi Kotchawat, an environmental and health expert.
After a tragedy in July 2023 in Narathiwat in which 11 people were killed and 389 injured, Mr Sonthi said the failure by the relevant agencies to form partnerships to proactively address this problem was clear.
According to Mr Sonthi, a fireworks factory or warehouse that meets the standards must include a “bubble zone” – with a fence set up at least 20 meters from its building – and have a reserved area that prevents any community from getting into its 100- to 500-metre radius depending on the quantity of fireworks in the factory.
