‘IT WAS CHAOS’

10 Dead, Over a Hundred Injured After Freak Explosion at Fireworks Warehouse

It’s thought sparks from an on-site construction project may have spurred a deadly chain reaction.

A horrific explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Thailand killed at least 10 people—including three children—and injured over 100 others on Saturday.

The blast caused huge damage to anything within a roughly 1,640-foot radius of the building in the town of Sungai Kolok, with as many 500 homes affected, according to local broadcasting service Thai PBS. The Narathiwat province’s Public Relations Department said at least 118 were wounded and many more remain trapped under debris waiting for rescue.

According to provincial governor Sanan Pongaksorn, a chain reaction ignited by a spark from a welder at an on-site construction project is to blame for the freak incident.

“The fire is now under control. Preliminary investigation suggests the cause was a technical error during the steel-welding process, as the building is under construction,” Pongaksorn told Thai PBS.

Footage on social media and local news shows massive clouds of smoke rising from streets littered with rubble from shattered windows, collapsed roofs and walls, and destroyed buildings and vehicles.

Seksan Taesen, who lives approximately 300 feet from the warehouse, told Agence France-Presse he was playing on his phone when he heard a “loud, thunderous noise.”

“My whole house shook,” he said. “I looked outside and I saw houses collapsing and people lying on the ground everywhere. It was chaos.”