Thailand investigates deadly explosion at a fireworks warehouse

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Thai Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel examine the site of an explosion at a firework warehouse in Narathiwat province southern Thailand. Associated Press/Photo by Kriya Tehtani

Thailand investigates deadly explosion at a fireworks warehouse

Police on Monday urged the owner of the warehouse to turn himself in and face criminal charges, the Bangkok Post reported. The explosion on Saturday killed 10 people and injured over 100 people, leveling the building in a southern Thailand town near the Malaysian border. The province’s public relations department estimated that the blast affected around 200 nearby households. The blast had a radius of over 1,600 feet or roughly five football fields.

How did the explosion start? Thai authorities said Sunday that an initial investigation seemed to show that sparks from welding during construction inside the factory started the explosion.

Dig deeper: Read Juliana Chan Erikson’s review of Thirteen Lives, a movie about the 2018 rescue of a Thai soccer team, in WORLD Magazine.