Rush to retrieve bodies after building collapse

The bodies of Prai Kharunram and Boonjang Lertlaong were located under debris on Saturday night but there was insufficient light to extract their remains.
Four workers were killed in Friday’s incident. The other two bodies were found on Friday.
Teerayut Poomipak, director of the Interior Ministry’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said the retrieval of the bodies would require a great amount of time as it involved the use of heavy machines to pierce, cut and lift concrete slabs, with elaborate evaluations required at each step.
The smell of fuel detected in the area was diesel, he said, but added that there was not enough to cause a fire.
Secretary to the Bangkok governor, Yuttapan Meechai, explained that the operation consisted of the team searching for the bodies and the debris evaluation team. Yuttapan promised the relatives of the workers that the bodies would be retrieved quickly so the religious rituals could be held.
A backhoe was used yesterday to crush large concrete debris around the collapsed building while Department rescuers sprayed water to settle dust.
Ten trucks were used to haul away iron and concrete from the site to an On Nut landfill while rescuers from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation marked where the bodies were with PVC pipes.
The rescue work was made more difficult due to the narrowness of Soi 87 and the electric poles located near the scene.
The demolished buildings had been the office of car dealership Thaiyarnyon Mitsu.
The board of the demolition company and an engineer are scheduled to report to Phra Khanong Police Station today for allegedly committing careless actions that caused deaths.