At least two people killed and a dozen injured in Bangkok road collapse

Cause of incident remains unclear as rescue efforts continue to find those trapped under the rubble

A rescue worker inspects the scene after ab elevated road collapsed, killing at least one person in Bangkok. AFP

At least one person was killed and several more were critically injured after an elevated road under construction collapsed in Bangkok's Lat Krabang district on Monday.

Local media has reported that two people have been killed in the incident and 12 have been injured. Many are believed to be trapped under the rubble with rescue operations under way.

A video shared by Thai police showed the structure falling suddenly at about 6pm. Authorities said crews were unable to access the site for initially fear of further collapse.

Governor Chadchart Sittipan said the cause of the collapse of the structure on the west side of Bangkok was unknown.

The governor confirmed that the body of one person known to have died has not yet been recovered from the rubble. He added that rescue crews feared that there may be more people trapped.

The construction project, which started in 2020, was commissioned by Tharawan Construction and Npa Construction, according to the contract published on the website of the Office of the Official Information Commission.

Governor Sittipan speculated that the accident was due to flaws in how the structure was put together.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” he said while inspecting the site on Monday evening. “Someone needs to be responsible for this because this wasn’t something unpreventable.”

Earlier this year, a construction worker was killed and four cars were damaged in a similar accident in Bangkok when a slab of concrete fell from a raised road under construction.