Update: No dead reported at water taxi explosion in Bangkok, Thailand

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eTN earlier reported about 60 people dead in a Bangkok water taxi explosion. According to eTN contributor David Browne in Bangkok this is not correct. Fortunately there are no dead reported.

eTN earlier reported about 60 people dead in a Bangkok water taxi explosion. According to eTN contributor David Browne in Bangkok this is not correct. Fortunately there are no dead reported.

As reported in Thai Media at least 60 people were injured on Saturday when the engine on a gas-powered Bangkok commuter boat exploded, pitching several passengers into Khlong Saen Saep.

The incident is not terror related and happened on a busy waterway used by local commuters. It’s not known if any tourists are among the victims.

The blast occurred at around 6.20am near the Wat Thep Leela pier near Ramkhamhaeng Soi 39 in Bang Kapi district. Khlong Saen Saep is one of the capital’s busiest waterways for commuters.

Pol Col Sarayut Chunnawat, chief of Hua Mak police station, told Thai media at noon that he had been told 67 people were injured, two seriously.

The city’s Erawan Emergency Medical Centre said at noon that 66 people had been hurt and were being treated at five hospitals.

Images provided by police showed that the boat was rattled by the explosion but still largely intact.

Boat services at all piers along Khlong Saeng Saep were still operating normally, except at the Wat Thep Leela pier where LNG had to be released from the damaged craft.

Sanit Mahathavorn, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said an initial investigation found the explosion was caused by a gas leak at the rear of the boat, according to INN News.

Most of the injured passengers sustained burns on their bodies, he said.

The boat, operated by Family Transport (2002) Co, was travelling from the Wat Sribunruang pier to Pratunam when the explosion occurred in the engine room near the Wat Thep Leela pier.

Police were questioning the engineers who assembled the company’s boats to see whether the vessels had been inspected regularly and whether their tanks met the standards, said Pol Gen Satit.

Booths were set up as contact centres at the Wat Thep Leela pier and at Hua Mak police station so people could check the victims’ names and notify authorities of any missing persons.

Nat Chubchai, deputy director-general of the Marine Department, which supervises marine transport, said the cause was likely a gas leak but authorities had yet to find out how it happened.

“We will set up a panel to look into the incident. As for reports of missing persons, divers have confirmed initially there were no victims in the water.”

Family Transport has 70 boats plying the Saen Saep canal. There were unconfirmed reports that all of its 30 LNG-powered boats have been suspended from service.

But Deputy Transport Minister Ormsin Chivapruck clarified at noon that Family Transport was told to switch to using diesel on all of its boats and keep providing services normally as a service suspension would affect a lot of people.

Family Transport managing director Chaovalit Metayaprapas said the company would take responsibility for all medical costs and damage.

He explained that his company had been using LNG without incident for some time.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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