Bangkok: At least seven people were killed and 19 others injured when a World War II period bomb exploded at a scrap metal warehouse in Thailand’s capital Bangkok Wednesday.
The bomb, weighing 225 kg, went off after a worker at a scrap metal warehouse in the Bang Khen district tried to cut it open without realising that it was still active, The Nation reported.
“The workers at the warehouse thought the bomb was no longer active so they used a metal cutter to cut into it causing the explosion,” Virasak Foythong, a police officer, was quoted as saying.
Five people died on spot. The blast also caused a big fire and damaged dozens of nearby houses.
The bomb was initially discovered by a worker at a construction site near the warehouse, who reportedly did not know it was a bomb and sold it to the scrap metal dealer.