Look for survivors in the collapsed Bangkok building

Aubonrat Setnawet, an electric assistant, was working with her husband on the twenty -third floor of the new offices on the northern edge of Bangkok moments before the disaster.

She needed to get some equipment, so I took the building elevator to the ground floor. Suddenly, I felt that the Earth swings under it, and in a sharp cracking, the incomplete building began to collapse.

With her mobile phone on hand, she ran to escape from falling debris when a huge dust cloud rose. She tried to contact her husband, Nuguy Setnawet, electrician, but her calls did not pass.

Since then, she remained on the site, as she was watching quietly while rescuers are looking for survivors. The news was dark. Eight bodies were recovered from the scene on Friday, but only one on Saturday.

“I am still waiting here, waiting for a miracle,” said Ms. Obonrat.

Nearly 80 people believed to have been in the 30 -storey building at the time of collapse, are still not confined.

Rescuers who use heavy equipment and dog search teams only monitored one body during the search on Saturday. Redish Pile – Seven Stories – Emnish to the point that it took hours to restore the body.

This has reached 10 a number of deaths known in Bangkok from the earthquake, including the crane operator, which fell until his death from a different building under construction.

The earthquake center was more than 600 miles to the north near Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, where the destruction was much worse. More than 1,600 dead have been reported and the number is expected to rise significantly.

At the location of the collapsed Bangkok, searching in the evening continued under the bright lights. Heavy equipment operators transport large parts of the metal from the rubble in the hope of finding the survivors.

Hundreds of rescuers from the army, the police and volunteer groups helped. Dozens of missing relatives and friends of the workers watched behind a barrier.

In addition to the search dogs, rescue teams used heat sensors to try to discover people who were still alive.

Periodically, all the work stopped so that the researchers can listen to the sounds of the survivors. But by Saturday evening, they did not hear any cries of help from inside Jabal Al -Hatam.

Piyalux Thinkaew, a rescue officer from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, said that the heavy equipment that arrived on Saturday is used to remove large pieces of minerals and concrete while the workers tried carefully not to destabilize Jabal Al -Hatam.

“This is to open a way for us to be able to see it below and check any signs of life,” he said. “It is a very difficult task and risky work for rescue men as well.”

“Experts must determine whether the collapse is caused by a defect in design or construction error.” The collapse is a result of a defect in design or construction error.

He said that the incomplete building should be more dangerous than collapse during the earthquake more than the complete structure.

“It should be 100 percent safe,” he said. “There was something wrong. This is like the building exploded. It is not normal.”

He said that Thailand had not tested the collapse of the building of this size. He said that in the past, two six -storey buildings collapsed, one in 2014 and one in 1993.

He said, “We have no experience in this.” “We cannot say much yet because we have to look at accounts and collect samples and evidence. Everything collapsed at the same time. From the video, we saw the columns exploded.”

The building was scheduled to be the officers of the public references in Bangkok.

The state-owned China, the tenth engineering group of Chinese railway, was part of a consortium that granted the contract to build a high-rise tall, according to an article published in The People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party, which was published in 2021. It also included a consortium founder and headquartered in Bangkok, and the development of Italian-Tai.

None of the company can be accessed immediately to comment.

The People’s Daily newspaper said at the time that the project, which achieved the land in April 2021, was one of the tallest buildings established by the tenth engineering group of Chinese railways.

The company is a subsidiary of the state -owned Chinese railway group, which is strongly involved in the Belt and Roads Initiative in China, a global infrastructure project that aims to deepen the supply chain network networks in China and expand the impact of the country.

Among those who were waiting for their missing relatives, Saifon Thongsuk, 36 years old, whose aunt, uncle and two adults were all working in the Office Tower.

She said they were working on a different construction project on the suburbs of Bangkok, but they were recently sent to the site because of the urgent need for workers.

She said, “I don’t know how long they were working here.” “I just know that they were working on the upper floor.”

Naromol Thonglek, 44, came to the site in search of a word of six people, including her husband, son and four co -workers.

Mrs. Naromall was also working on the site, until recently, but she resigned because her husband was concerned that she would leave her very stressful.

She said: “I rushed here as soon as I heard about the earthquake.” “I tried to get the messages not delivered. The calls were not connected. I couldn’t call any of them.”

“I think it is in the midst of that pile of rubble. There may be some space for air, I do not know. I can only hope for miracles.”

Thorian Fionger, 47, rushed to the site on Friday after he learned that his brother and sister’s sister were buried in the collapsed building. They were working on the site for several months.

“Initially, I still think there may be a miracle,” he said. “I still have hope. But I do not hope for miracles anymore.”

Perry Wang and David Pearson Hong Kong reports contributed to the reports.