Seven die in Bangkok explosion after scrap metal dealers try to dismantle WWII bomb with a BLOWTORCH

Device found by building workers who thought it was inactive

Sold it to scrap metal warehouse who decided to break it up

Five killed at the scene, two died later from their injuries

Bomb dropped by Allies in retaliation for Thailand joining Axis Powers



Seven Thai workers were killed and 19 injured when they tried to dismantle a Second World War bomb with a blowtorch.

The device was discovered by builders on a construction site in northern Bangkok’s Lad Plakao neighbourhood, Thailand.

Believing that it had lost its charge, they sold it to men working in a scrap metal warehouse.

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A Thai fireman surveys the wreckage inside a scrap metal warehouse after a massive Second World War bomb exploded in Bangkok killing at least seven people died and injuring 19

The site at a scrap metal warehouse in Bangkok where a Second World War bomb exploded

Firemen and rescuers inspect the scene amongst debris after an explosion at a scrap metal warehouse

Firemen put out the last of the flames from the Second World War bomb explosion

The metal workers then began to take the 500lb bomb apart to sell the metal on. The blowtorch caused the bomb to go off, destroying the shop and creating a large crater. It also damaged dozens of adjacent houses and started a large fire.

Police said that five people died at the scene.

‘The warehouse workers thought the bomb was no longer active so they used a metal cutter to cut into it, causing the explosion,’ local police chief Virasak Foythong told AFP news agency.

Police bomb squad chief Kamthorn Auicharoen said that it was ‘likely this is a bomb dropped from a plane during World War II’.

The Allies bombed Thailand’s capital in retaliation for the country joining the Axis Powers.

As well as the initial blast wreaking devastation, the bomb started a large fire

Devastation: The bomb was believed to have been dropped during the Second World war by the Allies Aftermath: Thai Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) members check the blast site

Firemen fight the blaze after an explosion at a scrap metal warehouse in Bangkok

Thai firemen stand amid smouldering rubble after an explosion blew up a scrap metal warehouse in northern Bangkok