Bangkok scrap workers killed cutting open suspected WW2 bomb

At least seven killed after workers brought shell from a construction site

A suspected second World War bomb has exploded in the Thai capital as scrap metal workers tried to cut it open with a blow torch, killing at least seven people and injuring 19, police said.

Construction workers found the shell at a construction site and brought it to a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok to be cut up.

“We believe the bomb dates back to World War Two and weighed about 227kg. As they probably did not know [what to do], they used a blow torch to try to cut open the bomb,” police superintendent Kamthorn Uicharoen said.

“The explosion created a three-meter deep crater.”

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Pools of blood and body parts were scattered on the floor of the warehouse.

Reuters camera footage showed just the shell of the building remained, its interior a mesh of twisted metal as firefighters doused flames and burning embers.

Allied bombing raids on Bangkok began in 1942. Japan used the country at the time as a staging post for its invasions of Burma and Malaya.

Reuters