At least seven persons were killed and 19 others injured on Wednesday in a freak accident at a scrap metal shop here in the Thai capital when some workers accidentally detonated a massive World War II bomb.
Workers at the shop tried to cut the 227-kg bomb open believing that it has been defused when the blast ripped them off. “The workers at the warehouse thought the bomb was no longer active so they used a metal cutter to cut into it causing the explosion,” police official Virasak Foythong said.
Five of the workers died on the spot while several others were admitted to hospital. The blast brought down the building housing the scrap shop and damaged dozen of homes within a 500-metre radius. Body parts were found as far as 200 metres from the scene.