Bodies of 15 victims of fireworks factory explosion identified
Fifteen of the 23 bodies of those killed in Wednesday’s explosion at a fireworks factory in Suphanburi province have been identified, a senior police officer said on Friday.
The commander of the Office of the Police Forensic Science, Pol Lt-General Trairong Phiwpan, said that he expected the identification of all the 23 victims would be completed by Saturday.
“We will try to finish the work today [Friday], but I can’t confirm the identification will be done completely. The forensic procedures also require DNA examination. All the work should be finished by no later than tomorrow [Saturday],” he said.
The 23 victims were all working inside the fireworks factory on Wednesday afternoon, when the powerful explosion occurred, flattening the structure and killing all those inside.
Trairong said on Friday that police investigators have completed their work of collecting evidence from the site. All the pieces of evidence would be examined in the lab to determine the cause of the explosion.
“I can’t tell now when the results will be available. We will try to complete the work as soon as possible,” he told the media.
Following the explosion on Wednesday, rescue workers who went to the scene said that bodies of the victims were blown up, making it difficult to identify the victims. Many body parts were retrieved from about 50 metres away and even in the adjacent rice fields.
At the explosion site on Friday, the fireworks factory’s owner came to meet forensic officers to describe details of the premises before the deadly explosion.
The police force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal officers were also dispatched there on Friday for inspection of the site.
