Fire near Bangkok that killed 1, injured 44 under control

Bangkok, Jul 6 (EFE).- Emergency teams reported Tuesday that they had contained a large fire in a chemical factory near Bangkok after more than 24 hours, in an incident that killed a firefighter and injured 44 people.

The fire service said they managed to bring the fire under control at about 5:00 local time (22:00 GMT on Monday), although they remained vigilant about another possible outbreak.

Although the risk of a new fire is low, firefighters aided by helicopters worked toward completely extinguishing the embers in the remains of the factory near Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

Paphinvich Laongkaew, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation director, told EFE that the fatality was a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter who died fighting the blaze.

According to authorities, at least 70 homes and 15 vehicles were damaged in the explosion at the factory, which produced styrofoam in Samut Prakan province, bordering Bangkok.

They established a 5-kilometer security perimeter over the fire, which was still preventing many residents from returning home.

Authorities said the powerful explosion took place at about 3.00 local time on Monday (20.00 GMT on Sunday) and was followed by a huge fire that consumed a large part of the factory.

Neighbors in the area told EFE that they heard a loud noise and that houses more than 1 kilometer from the explosion suffered damages such as broken glass.

Authorities opened an investigation to determine the possible causes of the explosion. EFE

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