New Delhi: Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered an investigation into the collapse of a 33-storey high-rise in the capital city of Bangkok during 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Central Myanmar on Friday.
The building under construction crumbled in seconds into billowing clouds of dust, leading to the confirmed 17 deaths, injuring 32 and 83 others are still remain accounted with most of them being construction workers, NDTV reported.
Search and rescue teams are working to locate survivors just as Thermal imaging drones detected at least 15 people who may still be alive with eight bodies having been pulled from the debris so far.
The investigation came after none of the other buildings under construction in the city suffered the fate of the one that was a joint venture between Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD) and China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Ltd.
Experts now doubt the structural integrity of the collapsed building belonging to Thailand's State Audit Office (SAO) under construction for three years at a cost of over two billion baht (45 million pounds).
Anutin Charnvirakul has tasked an expert panel to determine the cause of the collapse in seven days.
China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Ltd, established in 2018, is a subsidiary of China Railway Number 10 Engineering Group Company holding 49 per cent stake.
The company, a contractor for infrastructure projects such as office buildings, railways, and public roads, reported a net loss of 199.66 million baht in 2023.
The earthquake that originated in the northwest of Sagaing caused widespread devastation in Myanmar with reports claiming that over 1,600 people were killed and thousands injured.