Bangkok: Rescue teams have successfully recovered additional bodies from the site of the collapsed Office of the Auditor General building. On the ninth day of an intensive search operation, rescue workers and officials entered the designated search area to continue efforts in locating individuals trapped under the rubble. The latest developments in the operation have led to the retrieval of more bodies of the deceased.
According to Thai News Agency, the rescue operation has been ongoing for nearly nine full days since the collapse of the State Audit Office building. In a tactical move last night, heavy machinery was halted at 4:30 AM to allow officers to conduct a manual search for victims. Initial reports highlighted the discovery of body parts, with an upper and lower body found at 10:15 PM in Zone B, which have been transported to the Police General Hospital's Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.
Further discoveries included a hand located at 01:15 hrs. in Zone B, the upper half of a body of unknown gender found at 06:23 hrs. in Zone C, and a head discovered at 06:59 hrs. in Zone B. At 09:00 hrs., a rescue vehicle from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation arrived to transport these remains to the forensic institute for identification purposes.
Currently, the whiteboard at the site reflects an unchanged death toll of 15, with 79 individuals still reported as trapped. The identified remains will need further examination before any updates can be made to the official death toll.
Throughout last night's operation, officers working in Zone D on the front left used machinery to open the area by more than 4 meters, uncovering a large hole, although no victims were found there. In Zone C on the back left, machinery was also employed to dig further, while in Zone B on the back right, machinery was alternated with manual checks by officers in the search for survivors.