BLAST AT THAI CHEMICAL FORCES EVACUATION ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BANGKOK

A massive explosion at a chemical factory on the outskirts of Bangkok early Monday killed at least one person, injured 62 and damaged scores of homes, while prompting the evacuation of a wide area over fears of poisonous fumes, David Rising reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Dense clouds of black smoke continued to billow from the site late in the day. Winds shifted and started blowing toward the city’s center, and evacuation centers were set up in a school and a government office for those forced from their homes.

The fire broke out at around 3 a.m. at a foam and plastic pellet manufacturing factory just outside Bangkok near Suvarnabhumi Airport, with the explosion blowing out windows of surrounding homes and sending debris raining from the air.

The blast could be heard for kilometers (miles) and surveillance video from a nearby house captured the bright flash and boom, followed by damage to the home and the one next door from the shockwaves.

The main blaze at the Ming Dih Chemical factory had been brought under control by mid-morning, but an enormous tank containing the chemical styrene monomer continued to burn, said local disaster prevention official Chailit Suwannakitpong.

Officials said tons of styrene monomer were stored on the site.

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