Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 12, 1993 TAG: 9305120130
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NAKHON PATHOM, THAILAND LENGTH: Medium
It may have been the deadliest factory fire in history. The death toll surpassed the 146 killed March 25, 1911, at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in New York City.
An Interior Ministry spokesman told reporters that the death toll from Monday night's blaze had reached 213, while Channel 7 TV gave a count of 240.
More than 100 bodies remained at the site awaiting identification by relatives. Some corpses were so badly burned that gender could not be determined.
The government launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, which also injured 500. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, visiting the site on the outskirts of Bangkok, said the company had ignored warnings to improve safety.
Most of the victims were young women, who make up about 80 percent of Thailand's low-wage factory work force.
The factory is in the Phuttamonthon area, about 15 miles west of Bangkok.
About 800 workers were in the four-story building where flames erupted in the cloth-cutting area on the ground floor and quickly spread to two other buildings. All three structures were destroyed.
Many of the injured suffered broken limbs when they tried to leap to safety from upper floors.
The prime minister did not elaborate on what safety violations may have occurred at the factory, which employed about 4,000 people and made many types of dolls, most for export.
But Industry Minister Sanan Kajornprasart said he had ordered officials to check into reports that the buildings had only two narrow fire escapes.
Thai television also quoted an unidentified company official as saying the flames blocked one of two exits and workers scrambled to escape through a single door.
Provincial Gov. Prawate Tortrakul said it appeared the fire was caused by a short circuit, although police said the cause remained under investigation.
Executives of the factory's owners, Kader Industrial (Thailand) Co. Ltd., defended their safety policies to television interviewers, saying they complied with government regulations.
The company was described by press reports as a Thai-Taiwanese joint venture.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB