BANGKOK, June 27 (TNA) – Police will question staff of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) as they are investigating the cause of fire at commercial buildings near the Sampeng wholesale market.
Interrogators of the Metropolitan Police Bureau targeted electricity staff after some local residents said they saw smoke from a local transformer before the fire and MEA staff already arrived to check it after being informed of the smoke, said Pol Maj Gen Jirasant Kaewsaeng-ek, deputy commissioner of the MPB.
Police were verifying the residents’ information, he said.
This morning forensic police, interrogators of the Chakrawat police station and MEA staff moved the transformer believed to be the cause of the fire to the Wat Liab branch of MEA for examination.
Representatives of many organizations inspected the fire scene. The president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand said that many parts of the burnt buildings were heavily damaged. Their steel structures were deformed and floors were bent. The director of the Department of Public Work of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said that some commercial buildings must be demolished due to excessive damage caused by the fire.
Meanwhile, the MEA governor said the state enterprise was ready to pay compensation to fire victims while officials concerned had yet to confirm if the transformer really caused the blaze. (TNA)
