Thailand authorities arrest Chinese national over Bangkok skyscraper collapse
The Thai authorities have arrested the Chinese executive of the construction company that was building the State Audit Office tower in Bangkok, which collapsed after strong tremors jolted the nation late in March, leaving several people dead.
Zhang Chuanling was taken into custody at a hotel in the Ratchadaphisek area of the capital on Saturday, the Department of Special Investigation of Thailand was quoted as saying by Bangkok Post.
The Chinese-backed construction company is currently being investigated over the collapse of the under-construction building in Bangkok.
Several people were left trapped under debris after the 30-story building collapsed following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that battered Myanmar, with strong tremors being felt in Bangkok on March 28.
According to media reports, 47 people died due to the collapse.
Apart from the Chinese executive, a Thai court had issued arrest warrants against three other Thai nationals for being for being nominees of China Railway No.10 (Thailand) Co (CREC).
DSI identified the three Thai individuals as Manas Sri-anan, Prachuap Sirikhet and Sophon Meechai.
The four were listed as executives of the Thai subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned construction firm, which was in a joint venture with SET-listed Italian-Thai Development Plc, reported the Bangkok Post.
The two contractors formed the ITD-CREC consortium that was building the 30-storey State Audit Office headquarters in Chatuchak district of Bangkok, the newspaper reported.
Search is currently underway to find the other three Thai nationals against whom arrest warrants have been issued.
Four Chinese Nationals Detained Last Month
The Thailand Police have arrested four Chinese nationals for allegedly unlawfully entering the site where an under-construction building had collapsed following a strong earthquake and attempting to retrieve documents in the Chatuchak district of Bangkok on Sunday.
Deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Pol Maj Gen Napasilp Phulsawat, told The Edge Malaysia that the four men allegedly entered the restricted zone without authorisation and removed 37 files from the rear of the collapsed State Audit Office (SAO) construction site.
The under-construction skyscraper was the only major building that collapsed during the massive earthquake on March 28.
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