Thailand factory blast: 1 killed, 60 injured as area evacuated over toxic fume fears

An overnight explosion and fire at a chemical factory killed one person and injured more than 60 others, sending black smoke into the sky over Samut Prakan's Bang Phli area late Monday afternoon.

Firefighters used helicopters, including some from the army, to spray flame retardant foam over the burning Ming Dih Chemical Co plant complex.

Samut Prakan, a central Thai province on the Gulf of Thailand, sits just south of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River.


A helicopter dumps water onto the site of an explosion and fire at afactory on the outskirts of Bangkok on July 5, 2021. (AFP Photo)

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The blast occurred around 3 am at Taiwan-based Ming Dih Chemical Company. The fire was initially believed to be brought under control around dawn, but black smoke continued to billow into the sky late in the morning.

"We have 27 injured, mostly from cuts, and one dead who was a firefighter," said Somsak Kaewsena, the chief of Bang Pli district where the factory is located.



This aerial handout photo taken and released on July 5, 2021 by the Royal Thai Army shows smoke billowing from the site of an explosion and fire at afactory in Bangkok. (AFP Photo)

Kornsith Laophan, 18, was killed while he and other volunteers attempted to flee flames engulfing a chemical storage facility.He fell and was engulfed by the flames, according to a daily newspaper, Thai Rath.

He said that 500 residents had so far been evacuated to two shelters. By noon, elderly residents in wheelchairs were evacuated to a nearby school about 9 kilometres away.

The public have been ordered to stay away from a radius of at least 500 metres around the blast site, said Lieutenant General Ampon Buarubporn.

"We do not know if there is anything left to explode," he said, adding that authorities are still working to get the fire under control.

Rescue workers drove around the neighbourhood in emergency vans, telling thousands of residents via loudspeakers to leave for their safety.

(With inputs from agencies)