Collapsed building: Identity of 33 victims confirmed, including 22 Thais 

The Royal Thai Police’s Central Institute of Forensic Science on Thursday announced that 33 victims from the collapse of the State Auditor Office (SAO) building have been positively identified.

Of these, 22 are Thai nationals, 10 are from Myanmar, and one is Cambodian.

The under-construction 30-storey building in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district collapsed on March 28 due to the impact of an 8.2-magnitude earthquake near Mandalay, Myanmar, trapping over a hundred workers inside.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) reported a total of 103 victims from the incident. Of those, 44 have been confirmed dead, nine were injured, and 50 remain missing.

Pol Maj Gen Wathee Assawutmangkul, commander of the institute and spokesperson for the police Forensics Division, said the confirmed identities will be used to return the bodies to families for religious and funeral rites.

Wathee explained that the forensic team has received 41 bodies or body parts, along with 96 additional human remains. DNA samples from 97 relatives of the missing persons have also been collected for comparison. Identification methods include fingerprints, dental records, DNA testing, and physical characteristics.

He added that while early identifications could be completed and released daily, the decomposition and fragmentation of some bodies have caused the verification process to take longer. In several cases, DNA extraction from bones is necessary and may take an additional 1–2 days.

For migrant workers, particularly from Myanmar, whose families may be unable to travel to Thailand, the Forensic Division is working with the Myanmar Embassy to collect DNA samples from relatives in their home country for future verification.

“The forensic team reaffirms its commitment to swiftly completing identifications to support the ongoing investigation and to ensure that families can perform religious rites without unnecessary delay,” said Wathee.