Prosecutors in Thailand issue indictments for dozens in deadly building collapse

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BANGKOK — State prosecutors in Thailand have formally indicted 23 individuals and companies on charges related to the collapse of a Bangkok office building that collapsed after an earthquake, killing at least 92 people.

The partially built high-rise, which was to house the new State Audit Office, was the only one in Thailand to completely collapse on March 28 due to the 7.7 magnitude earthquake, which was centred in neighbouring Myanmar.

Those indicted include the lead contractors for the project: Italian-Thai Development Co. and its Chinese joint venture partner for the project, the China Railway No. 10 company.

Italian-Thai Development’s president, Premchai Karnasuta, and China Railway No. 10’s local director, Zhang Chuanling, were also indicted along with others, including designers, engineers and several other companies.

The charges in the various indictments include professional negligence in design, supervision, or construction practices that failed to comply with engineering standards, resulting in danger to others and causing deaths, according to a statement from the Office of the Attorney General.

Additional charges include forgery and use of forged documents.

Several of those indicted Thursday had already surrendered to police and denied any wrongdoing.

An investigation by police and other officials found design and structural flaws were behind the building’s collapse and that some of the officially approved designs were not implemented.

The epicentre of the quake was in central Myanmar, where it killed more than 3,700 people and caused major damage in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, and in the capital Naypyitaw.

The indictment of Italian-Thai Development’s Premchai is his second major tangle with the law. In 2019, he was convicted of killing protected animals and illegal possession of weapons while hunting in a wildlife sanctuary for which he served about three years in prison.