Efforts to recover the bodies of those lost in the collapse of the 2.1-billion-baht State Audit Office building in Bangkok, triggered by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar on March 28, have concluded, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced on Saturday.
Suriyachai Rawiwon, director of the BMA’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, said the final areas, specifically a lift shaft below the basement level, had been accessed, adding that no bodies or victims had been found after all six shafts were opened.
The focus will now shift to examining body parts present in the removed rubble, with a K9 dog team still being deployed to search for remains, Mr Suriyachai said.
A skull fragment was found in the debris on Friday, before two more bone pieces were discovered early Saturday.
Asked about seven missing people who have not yet been located, Mr Suriyachai explained that larger remains were still undergoing forensic testing.
He said overall progress was in line with expectations.
Proceedings to hand over the site are on schedule for May 15 after district officials sent a notification to the State Audit Office. The site will be handed back once the disaster area designation is lifted, he added.
As of Saturday morning, the death toll stood at 89, with nine people injured and seven still missing. Authorities also recently located four workers who were missing and had not been in the 30-storey high-rise during the March 28 quake.
Next week, police are expected to issue arrest warrants for three groups of people suspected of malfeasance leading to the collapse of the under-construction building. It was the only building in the capital to collapse during the earthquake.
Engineers investigated
In a related development, the Council of Engineers said it is investigating possible breaches of professional ethics linked to the collapse of the building.
No formal accusations have been filed yet, but preliminary evidence suggests two or three individuals may have acted unethically, said Prasong Norajit, the chairman of the council’s legal subcommittee.
Between 2,000 and 3,000 pages of data are still being reviewed, and the cases will be forwarded for formal consideration once reviews are complete, he said.
Karun Chantrangsu, head of the ethics committee, added that the council is monitoring a related criminal case involving alleged signature forgery.
If proven, and if the offender is a licensed engineer, the matter may also be treated as an ethics violation, with penalties ranging from warnings to licence suspension or revocation.
Engineers have also been appointed to support a government-appointed committee investigating the cause of the SAO building collapse.
In addition, the council has formed a working team to gather information on the companies and engineers involved in the construction project, said president Thanet Veerasiri.
