Bangkok high-rise building that collapsed in quake had been flagged, says watchdog

The Star

An anti-corruption watchdog had flagged irregularities in the construction of a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed following the 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar last week. It said the government had threatened to cancel the project earlier this year because of delays.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Thai Prime Minister Petong Tharn Shinawatra on Monday once again visited the site where

00:09an under-construction building collapsed following the deadly earthquake in Myanmar last week.

00:15Petong Tharn received updates on the operation to search for survivors.

00:24After her visit, rescuers extracted the body of a victim trapped under the rubble, though

00:29the search teams still believe that there are survivors at the site.

01:00Authorities said some 75 people were still missing and believed to be buried under the

01:08debris.

01:09They said at least 12 people were killed and 18 others injured.

01:14The magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar's Sagaing district on March 28th has killed

01:20some 1,700 people and sent tremors to Thailand, China and other countries.

01:27The earthquake caused the 30-story building in Chatuchak district to crumble, and the

01:32government said it was the only building that collapsed, while other buildings experienced

01:38structural damage.

01:40The incident raised questions on the building that is set to be the state audit office upon

01:45completion.

01:46Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand said it had flagged irregularities in the construction

01:52of the building, and the government had threatened to cancel the project earlier this year because

01:56of delays.

01:58The audit office said the project, which began in 2020 and is supposed to be completed in

02:032026, was only 30 percent completed before it collapsed.

02:08They said sometimes the number of workers on site were much fewer than there should

02:12be, causing delays, and potentially there was a rush to complete the project towards

02:18the end, causing a drop in the standard of work.

02:22The project was carried out by a joint venture between Italian-Thai development PCL and a

02:27subsidiary of China Railway Group.

02:30The government has ordered agencies to investigate the cause of the collapse within a week.

02:36Authorities said they are investigating metal and steel parts taken from the site for further

02:40tests.

02:52For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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