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3 February, 2002An unauthorised concrete structure at an electronics factory in Thailand falls on a production line.
THAILAND: On February 2, seven workers - all women - were crushed to death and 57 others injured when a concrete platform fell on them at an electronics factory in the Bang Pu industrial estate, in the province of Samut Prakan south of Bangkok. Two other workers have been reported missing and are presumed dead.
Some 500 workers, mostly women, were on duty at the Delta Electronics (Thailand) factory when the concrete platform - 30 centimeters thick, 4.5 meters wide and 90 meters in length - bearing 16 heavy-duty air-conditioners fell on a production line of about 120 workers.
The minister of industry, who inspected the site, said the platform was suspended from the factory roof with steel rods and could not bear the 10-tonne weight of the machines. Not a single pillar had been built to support the structure, despite its length. The platform was hooked on to the roof on one side with the factory's wall on the other side. The minister said the company had not sought the necessary approval before putting up the platform. Each air-conditioner weighed about 600-700 kilograms.
Delta Electronics (Thailand) is a Thai-Taiwanese joint venture. It employs 13,000 workers at five factories in the Bang Pu industrial estate and a factory in the Wellgrow industrial estate in the province of Cha-choengsao east of Bangkok. The factories, which are operating around the clock, make electronic parts for computers and mobile phones.
Some 500 workers, mostly women, were on duty at the Delta Electronics (Thailand) factory when the concrete platform - 30 centimeters thick, 4.5 meters wide and 90 meters in length - bearing 16 heavy-duty air-conditioners fell on a production line of about 120 workers.
The minister of industry, who inspected the site, said the platform was suspended from the factory roof with steel rods and could not bear the 10-tonne weight of the machines. Not a single pillar had been built to support the structure, despite its length. The platform was hooked on to the roof on one side with the factory's wall on the other side. The minister said the company had not sought the necessary approval before putting up the platform. Each air-conditioner weighed about 600-700 kilograms.
Delta Electronics (Thailand) is a Thai-Taiwanese joint venture. It employs 13,000 workers at five factories in the Bang Pu industrial estate and a factory in the Wellgrow industrial estate in the province of Cha-choengsao east of Bangkok. The factories, which are operating around the clock, make electronic parts for computers and mobile phones.